LIBRARY 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  BARBARA 

PRESENTED  BY 

Mrs.    MacKInley   Helm 

MEMOIRS 

OF  THE 

EMPRESS    EUGENIE 

VOLUME  I 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE 
EMPRESS     EUGENIE 

BY    COMTE    FLEURY   <*»  4-  *  r|?  rlf 

Compiled  from  Statements,  Private  Documents  and 
Personal  Letters  of  the  Empress  Eugenie  *  *  *  * 
From  Conversations  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  III 
and  from  Family  Letters  and  Papers  ofGeneralFleury, 
M.  Franceschini  Pietri,  Prince  Victor  Napoleon  and 
Other  Members  of  the  Court  of  the  Second  Empire 


"The  documents  and  conversations  contained  in  these 
two  volumes  are,  to  my  best  knowledge,  authentic." 

C"  Fleury 


VOLUME  I 


D.     APPLETON     AND     COMPANY 
NEW  YORK    :    LONDON    :    MCMXX 


Copyright,  1920,  bt 
D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 

Rights  of  iransUUion  reserved 


CONTENTS  OF  VOLUME  I 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  Family,  Childhood,  and  Marriage 1 

II.  The  Coup  D'Etat 20 

III.  Princess  Mathilde 59 

IV.  The  Birth  and  Christening  of  the  Prince  Imperial  .  81 
V.  The  Youth  of  the  Prince  Imperial 102 

VI.  The  Prince  Imperial's  "  Baptism  of  Fire  "        .      .      .  121 

VII.  The  Death  op  the  Prince  Imperial 145 

VIII.  Imperial  and  Royal  Visits     ....           ...  174 

IX.  German  and  Russian  Royal  Visitors        ....  199 

X.  Some  Official  Journeys 233 

XI.  Visits  to  Germany  and  Egypt 260 

XII.  Court  Life  During  the  Second  Empire       ....  301 

XIII.  Court  Entertainments 337 

XIV.  The  Official  Household 359 

XV.  Episodes  in  the  Emperor's  Life 393 

XVI.  The  Death  of  Napoleon  III 430 

XVII.  Recollection  and  Retrospection 442 


CHAPTER  I 

FAMILY,    CHILDHOOD,    AND    MAEEIAGB 

The  House  of  Guzman,  one  of  the  most  distin- 
guislied  of  Spain,  goes  back  to  the  first  years  of  the 
Spanish  monarchy.  Amongst  its  celebrities  it 
counts  the  famous  Alonzo  Perez  de  Guzman  who, 
while  Governor  of  Tarifa  in  1291,  allowed  the  be- 
sieging Moors  to  cut  off  his  son's  head  rather  than 
surrender  the  citadel.  Hence  the  motto  of  the 
house:  "Mas  pesa  el  rey  que  la  sangre"  (The 
King  is  more  than  blood).  Besides  the  family  of 
Montijo,  those  of  Medina  Coeli,  Medina  Sidonia, 
Las  Torres  and  Olivares  are  branches  of  the  Guz- 
man house.  Gaspard  de  Guzman,  Count-Duke  of 
Olivares,  was  an  all-powerful  minister  under 
Philip  IV. 

Royal  blood  also  runs  in  the  veins  of  the  family; 
the  Empress  Eugenie  was  the  grand-niece  of  Al- 
phonse  X,  King  of  Leon  and  of  Castillo.  Moreover, 
she  was  not  the  first  of  her  race  to  rise  to  a  throne. 
In  the  17th  century.  Dona  Luiza  Francisca  de  Guz- 
man, daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Medina  Sidonia,  mar- 
ried the  Duke  of  Braganza  who  became  king  of 
Portugal  under  the  title  of  John  IV,  and  ruled  from 
1640  to  1656.  The  Counts  of  Montijo  are  also  con- 
nected with  the  family  of  Acunha   of  which  two 

1 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

branches,  Spanish  and  Portuguese,  played  an  im- 
portant part  in  the  peninsular  history  in  the  16th 
century.  I  mention  these  facts  to  show  that  Napo- 
leon III  did  not  marry  "beneath  him"  as  some  of 
his  unreasonable  critics  have  said.  Some  very  fool- 
ish and  groundless  statements  have  been  made  to 
this  effect.    I  simply  wish  to  controvert  them. 

The  family  of  Porto-Carrero,  Counts  of  Montijo, 
includes  the  Cardinal  of  that  name,  who  played  a 
part  during  the  reign  of  Charles  II  of  Austria  and 
descends  in  direct  line  from  the  ancient  patrician 
family  that  in  1339  gave  the  city  of  Genoa  its  first 
Doge.  Dona  Maria  Francisca  de  Porto  Carrero, 
Countess  of  Montijo,  writer  of  repute,  who  was  pros- 
ecuted on  the  charge  of  turning  her  house  into  a 
Jansenist  meeting  place,  was  one  of  the  Empress' 
ancestors  and  lived  in  the  beginning  of  the  19th  cen- 
tury. She  was  the  correspondent  of  the  Marquise 
de  Lage  de  Volude,  former  lady  in  waiting  to  the 
Princesse  de  Lamballe,  and  at  one  time,  during  the 
Reign  of  Terror,  was  a  refugee  in  Spain.  Sover- 
eigns, statesmen,  soldiers,  churchmen,  are  conse- 
quently found  among  the  Empress'  ancestors.  And 
perhaps  I  may,  in  passing,  add  here  that  her  sis- 
ter married  the  Duke  of  Alba  and  Berwick,  who  was 
lineally  descended  from  James  II,  king  of  England. 

Her  father,  Don  Cipriano  Guzman  Palafox  y 
Porto-Carrero,  Count  of  Teba,  was  the  youngest 
brother  of  Eugenio,  Count  of  Montijo,  who,  in  the 
beginning  of  the  last  century,  was  associated  with 
every  liberal  and  even  revolutionary  movement  in 
Spain.  His  family  claims  that  his  name  stands 
out  prominently  in  the  efforts  made  to  combat  the 
stupid  tyranny  of  Ferdinand  VII 's  government.    He 

2 


FAMILY,  CHILDHOOD,  AND  MARKIAGB 

had  the  audacity  of  old-time  conspirators  and  the 
perseverance  of  modern  revolutionists.  With  a 
small  band  of  resolute  men,  he  penetrated  into  the 
Aranjuez  palace  and  for  a  few  hours  held  in  bis 
power  the  King,  Queen  and  the  favourite  Godoy. 
But  the  people  did  not  second  him  and  the  con- 
spiracy failed,  and  Eugenio  de  Montijo  was  pro- 
nounced a  madman  by  those  who  did  not  dare  to 
profit  by  his  bold  act  made  in  the  interest  of  good 
government. 

Cipriano  fought  with  distinction  in  Napoleon's 
armies.  Attached  to  the  cause  of  King  Joseph,  he 
was  conspicuous  during  the  murderous  struggle  in 
Spain  and  was  several  times  wounded.  In  1814, 
he  had  risen  to  become  colonel  of  artillery  and  was 
stationed  by  the  Emperor  at  the  fortifications  of 
Paris  then  threatened  by  the  Allies,  where  he  was 
at  the  head  of  the  students  of  the  Polytechnic  School 
defending  the  Buttes  Chaumont.  In  fact,  owing  to 
the  part  he  played  in  the  wars  of  the  Empire,  he  was 
prosecuted  and  imprisoned  by  order  of  Ferdinand 
VII,  after  the  fall  of  Napoleon.  Later,  he  was  one 
of  the  first  grandees  of  Spain  called  to  the  Senate. 
In  a  word,  the  Empress'  father  was  a  man  of  liberal 
views,  energy  and  cultured  tastes,  who  was  ever 
ready  to  render  service  to  others. 

After  the  French  revolution  of  1830,  Comte  and 
Comtesse  de  Teba  went  and  settled  in  Paris,  where 
they  became  intimate  with  many  leading  families  in 
Parisian  society,  especially  the  Delesserts  and  La- 
bordes  whom  the  Empress'  parents'  old  friend 
Prosper  Merimee  had  known  since  his  childhood. 
Some  of  those  friendships,  begun  in  Spain,  were 

3 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

now  destined  to  become  more  and  more  intimate  as 
the  families  met  almost  daily. 

Don  Eugenio  died  in  1834,  and  his  brother,  Don 
Cipriano,  inherited  the  property  and  titles  of  the 
Montijo  house.  But  this  veteran  of  the  wars  of  the 
Empire  was  not  greatly  influenced  by  the  change  of 
fortune  and  he  had  no  intention  whatever  of  alter- 
ing his  simple  and  retired  mode  of  life.  Deeply  im- 
bued with  liberal  and  thoroughly  modern  ideas,  as 
I  have  already  said,  he  repudiated  the  customs  of  an 
ancient  caste  and  wished  his  daughters  to  receive 
an  education  far  superior  to  that  which  women  of 
society  then  possessed ;  he  would  have  liked  even  to 
see  them  brought  up  as  though  they  were  poor.  ''Let 
them  be  toughened  by  privation  and  sufferings," 
was  his  constant  remark. 

The  character  and  ideas  of  the  Empress'  mother 
were  far  different.  She  made  no  objections  concern- 
ing the  nafure  of  the  instruction  of  her  daughters, 
being  herself  possessed  of  much  culture  and  a  wide 
and  varied  range  of  knowledge.  She  was  a  woman 
of  marked  energy,  vitality  and  activity,  with  an  ear- 
nest desire  to  push  forward,  which  neither  old  age 
nor  blindness  could  slacken,  and  she  was  anxious  to 
give  a  free  rein  to  qualities  which  she  felt  might  be 
useful  to  her  relatives  as  much  as  to  herself. 
Wherever  she  was,  she  always  gathered  around  her 
a  body  of  superior  men,  whom  she  did  not  merely 
seek  to  "bind  to  her  chariot  wheels,"  to  ''rivet  to 
her  fate"  as  a  literary  friend  has  remarked.  She 
admired  for  their  own  sake  those  whom  she  had 
chosen  as  friends.  She  was  most  useful  to  Merimee, 
whom  she  had  initiated,  at  the  time  of  his  first 
journey  to  Spain,  into  the  complex  affairs  of  that 

4 


FAMILY,  CHILDHOOD,  AND  MARRIAGE 

country.  It  was  she  who  related  to  him,  later  on,  the 
anecdote  from  which  he  drew  Carmen;  and,  later 
still,  she  suggested  to  the  traveler,  lover  of  art  and 
of  historical  reconstitutions,  the  idea  of  a  new  Don 
Pedro,  king  of  Castille,  on  whose  memory  weigh  a 
number  of  timely  '' suppressions"  including  those  of 
some  relations  and  of  Eleonora  de  Guzman,  who  had 
been  his  father's  mistress.  To  help  Merimee  in  his 
eager  search  for  authentic  documents,  she  stirred 
into  activity  legions  of  archivists  and  librarians, 
awoke  benumbed  energies,  and  shook  the  dust  from 
annals  which  had  lain  unheeded  during  long  cen- 
turies. Influencing  both  his  mind  and  heart,  she 
whispered  into  the  ear  of  her  friend  a  historical 
theory  of  her  own  about  Don  Pedro,  which  Merimee 
practically  adopted  and  skillfully  turned  into  a  com- 
plete system  of  his  own. 

The  Empress'  mother  recognized  and  admitted 
the  merits  of  the  ideas  advocated  by  the  French  doc- 
trinaries  and  liberals  who  then  shared  with  the  ' '  dis- 
cussing gentry"  the  favors  of  Louis  Philippe's 
reign ;  but  all  her  affection  went  out  to  some  ' '  tyrant 
of  genius"  who  would  lead  the  people  toward  good- 
ness and  happiness  without  bothering  them  with  the 
means  he  employed  to  accomplish  this  beneficent 
end.  It  is  certain  that  the  great  Napoleon  was  her 
ideal.  In  the  family  to  w^hich  she  belonged,  one  was 
born  a  Bonapartist  and  one  remained  so  till  death. 
Some  years  later,  she  learned  that  a  certain  Prince, 
twenty  years  of  age,  bearing  the  name  of  Bonaparte, 
was  in  Madrid.  She  managed  to  meet  him  and  to 
study  him  with  most  minute  care.  Handsome,  fas- 
cinating, witty,  he  was  surely  a  Bonaparte,  but  he 
was  not  the  Bonaparte  for  whom  she  declared  that 

5 


MEMOIRS  OP  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

Europe  was  ever  waiting.  In  fact,  but  little  per- 
suasion would  have  been  necessary  to  induce  her  to 
visit  another  Bonaparte  then  prisoner  at  Ham. 

In  Paris,  the  Empress'  mother  led  a  retired,  intel- 
lectual life.  Merimee  introduced  to  her  several 
authors,  especially  Henri  Beyle,  ('' Stendhal")  his 
great  friend,  who,  though  twenty  years  older  than 
himself,  exercised  such  a  strong  influence  over  him. 
Beyle  found  charmed  admirers  in  the  little  daugh- 
ters of  Comtesse  de  Montijo  and  came  with  pleasure 
to  a  house  where  his  stories  were  greatly  enjoyed. 
These  were  red-letter  evenings  for  the  children 
of  the  family.  They  looked  forward  to  them  with 
impatience,  because  they  were  put  to  bed  a  little 
later  on  those  occasions.  And  then,  his  stories 
amused  them  so  much ! 

Apropos  of  these  visits,  Merimee  once  wrote  the 
Empress'  mother  as  follows,  and  afterwards,  incor- 
porated almost  these  very  same  words  in  one  of  his 
volumes :  ' '  One  can  picture  the  two  children  sitting 
on  Beyle's  knees  or  close  by  his  side,  on  low  chairs 
listening  with  attentive  ear,  parted  lips  and  eyes 
wide-open  as  though  looking  on  some  strange  vision, 
while  he,  the  singer  of  the  great  deeds  of  the  past, 
gave  fresh  color  and  animation  to  those  tales  of 
lives  that  were  spent  long  since,  letting  drop  one  by 
one  from  his  lips,  as  from  a  string  of  pearls,  the  epi- 
sodes of  that  prodigious  drama  which  he  had  w^it- 
ncssed  or  in  which  he  had  even  played  a  minor  part. 
One  can  imagine,  if  one  reads  in  'The  Carthusian 
Nun  of  Parma,'  the  chapter  devoted  to  Waterloo, 
how  picturesque  must  have  been  those  descriptions, 
filled  as  they  were  with  suggestive  details,  stamped 
with  that  sincerity  of  feeling, that  intimate  knowiedge 

6 


FAMILY,  CHILDHOOD,  AND  MARRIAGE 

of  the  living  and  the  lived  which  makes  the  charm  of 
Stendhal's  creations.  Thus  the  little  girls,  already 
prepared  by  their  father's  reminiscences,  early 
learned  a  deep  reverence  for  the  Empire,  and 
gathered  from  the  mouth  of  this  unequaled  story 
teller,  a  truer,  more  striking  Napoleon  than  the 
legendary  one.  In  order  that  the  memorj^  of  the 
children  should  retain  these  dazzling  delineations  of 
'the  man  in  the  little  cocked  hat  and  gray  coat,'  and, 
their  imagination  fed,  that  their  eyes  also  should  be 
interested,  Beyle  completed  his  stories  by  pictures." 
The  Empress  Eugenie  long  had  a  Battle  of  Auster- 
litz  given  to  her  and  drawn  by  him. 

It  is  a  new  Stendhal  whom  we  thus  meet,  a  Stend- 
hal who,  in  order  to  be  understood  by  his  'kittle 
pupils"  was  willing  to  become  a  mere  ''story 
teller,"  he  who,  according  to  Merimee's  own  admis- 
sion, took  a  malicious  pleasure  in  appearing  in  the 
eyes  of  the  public  as  "a  monster  of  immorality." 
Here,  on  the  contrary',  we  find  a  Stendhal  who,  put- 
ting aside  all  pride  and  love  of  domineering,  deigned 
to  be  simplicity  itself.  "He  felt  that  his  words  were 
listened  to  with  admiration  and  fervor,"  continues 
Merimee,  ''and  to  his  satisfied  vanity,  nothing  was 
more  agreeable  than  the  eager  attention  shown  in 
those  pretty  eyes  of  the  two  little  girls."  "When 
you  are  grown  up,"  he  would  say  to  the  future 
Empress,  "you  will  marry  the  Marquis  of  Santa 
Cruz," — he  pronounced  the  word  with  a  comical 
emphasis  which  I  can  never  forget — "and  you  will 
forget  me  and  I  will  no  longer  care  about  you. ' ' 

Merimee,  too,  would  tell  tales,  but  tales  that  were 
less  warlike  than  those  of  Stendhal.  He  really  liked 
to  entertain  the  children  when  they  wore  sometimes 

7 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

entrusted  to  his  care,  for,  in  his  own  way,  Merimee 
was  fond  of  children.  I  recall  how,  when  he  congrat- 
ulated his  friend  Stapfer  on  the  birth  of  a  daughter, 
he  remarked  that  he  could  fully  realize  the  joys  of 
fatherhood,  for  he  well  remembered  the  pleasure  he 
had  himself  tasted  in  past  days  when  bringing  up 
kittens!  He  added  quaintly,  that  "kittens  lose  much 
of  their  attractiveness  as  they  become  full-grown 
cats,  whereas  human  kittens,  especially  she  ones, 
gain  in  this  respect  as  they  grow  older." 

So  Merimee  was  always  quite  ready  to  amuse  "la 
petite  Eugenie,"  as  the  future  Empress  was  then 
called.  He  would  often  take  her  out  for  a  walk,  would 
show  her  the  sights  of  Paris  and  they  would  wind 
up  by  dropping  in  at  the  pastry-cook's.  "I  am  inter- 
ested by  her  chatter,"  he  would  say.  Often,  too,  he 
corrected  her  French  exercises,  and  he  even  gave 
her  some  writing  lessons.  No  wonder  then  that 
Eugenie  always  retained  for  this  friend  of  her  child- 
hood a  warm  remembrance  which  never  faded.  She 
always  enjoyed  talking  about  him,  and  continued  to 
call  him  ceremoniously,  as  in  her  childhood  days, 
"Monsieur  Merimee."  Memories  of  Compiegne,  of 
Saint  Cloud,  of  Biarritz,  cluster  also  round  his 
name.  As  the  scholarly  inspector  of  historical  monu- 
ments he  contributed  in  no  small  degree  to  strength- 
ening Eugenie's  taste  for  studies  of  the  past,  just  as 
Beyle  had  been  her  Napoleonic  educator.  It  was 
only  natural  for  the  Empress  to  remain  faithful  to 
the  memory  of  these  her  first  intellectual  teachers. 
On  one  point  alone  did  she  fail  to  show  herself  an 
apt  pupil ;  impiety  never  had  any  attraction  for  her. 
But  I  ought  to  add,  that  they  omitted  to  instruct  her 
in  that  branch ! 

8 


FAMILY,  CHILDHOOD,  AND  MARRIAGE 

Merimee  really  became  much  attached  to  the  chil- 
dren, and  when  they  left  Paris  in  1839  to  join  their 
mother,  called  home  in  haste  to  her  husband  who 
was  dangerously  ill  at  Madrid,  the  ''dear  French 
friend,"  as  this  family  always  called  him,  was  in- 
deed very  sorry.  For  a  short  period  the  girls  re- 
mained alone  in  Paris  with  their  governess,  when 
Merimee  devoted  as  much  time  to  them  as  he  could 
spare.  One  of  them  having  treated  the  excellent 
Miss  Flower  in  a  somewhat  rude  manner,  they  were 
taken  to  task,  I  was  told,  and  Merimee  preached  a 
lay-sermon  to  both  of  them  which  had  a  good  effect 
and  the  echo  of  which  they  carried  to  their  friend 
Cecile  Deles sert,  who  always  enjoyed  all  they  told 
her  about  the  good  French  author.  "You  would  not 
believe,"  he  wrote  at  that  time,  "what  grief  I  feel 
to  see  the  children  go." 

There  is  a  picture  representing  them  at  the  ages  of 
thirteen  and  fourteen  with  gowns  in  plaits  at  the 
back  and  a  bit  of  embroidered  drawers  showing 
beneath  the  skirt.  "What  will  these  two  children  be 
like  when  I  meet  them  next?"  he  wrote  their  mother 
in  a  letter  of  which  they  were  the  bearers.  "Will 
they  be  tall  young  girls,  coquettish,  scornful  or  pas- 
sionate, with  no  feeling  for  their  old  pedagogue? 
Will  they,  adulated  and  flattered  in  the  dazzling 
days  of  their  spring-tide,  turn  from  the  man  already 
approaching  the  forties,  whose  hair  is  even  now 
streaked  with  gray?  These,  and  many  other  ques- 
tions, have  flashed  through  my  mind  and  that  of 
Beyle,  who  is,  I  must  add,  skeptical  in  regard  to  all 
things  except  women.  This  is  why,  in  spite  of  the 
armor  of  indifference  with  which  I  like  to  clothe 
myself,  I,  now  that  my  little  friends  are  leaving  me, 

9 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

give  way  to  a  feeling,  which,  though  fraught  with  a 
good  deal  of  melancholy,  yet,  I  must  confess,  con- 
tains a  dash  of  vague  hopefulness."  At  the  last 
moment,  he  nearly  started  with  them.  The  girls 
and  Miss  Flower  promised  to  write  him.  So  he  im- 
mediately penned  a  note  to  their  mother  in  which  he 
said:  ''Out  of  all  this,  there  will  at  least  come  a 
letter."  And  that  is  just  what  did  happen.  At 
Oloron,  in  the  Pyrenees,  where  the  travelers  had  to 
stop  on  account  of  the  bad  weather,  Eugenie  sent 
him  what  she  called  "a  fine  letter,"  and  one  which 
her  old  friend  kept  for  a  long  time.  He  used  even 
sometimes  to  show  this  letter  discreetly  when  the 
author  of  it  had  become  Empress  of  the  French ! 

Merimee  wrote  regularly  to  Eugenie's  mother. 
He  followed  Spanish  politics  with  great  interest 
although  he  early  abandoned  the  hope  of  under- 
standing them.  He  was  glad  to  leani  that  his  cor- 
respondent, a  partisan  of  Narvaez,  had  been  made 
mistress  of  the  robes.  "Writing  to  his  friend,  October 
22,  1847,  he  said:  "So  you  are  really  camarera 
mayor,  and  you  are  pleased.  That  is  enough  to 
make  me  pleased  also.  You  can  do  good  in  that  post, 
and  that  is  a  sufficient  reason  why  you  should  accept 
it.  Whatever  you  may  say  to  the  contrary,  you  are 
made  for  fight,  and  it  would  be  ridiculous  to  wish 
Caesar  to  lead  the  tranquil  life  of  the  Second  Citizen 
of  Rome.  I  may  tell  you  that  I  have  already  re- 
ceived much  flattery  on  your  account,  and  I  expect 
on  the  first  occasion  to  have  petitions  presented  to 
me  which  are  really  meant  for  you!  Knowing  my 
temper,  you  can  readily  guess  what  use  I  shall  make 
of  them." 

Merimee  was  not  at  ease  concerning  his  friend's 

10 


FAMILY,  CHILDHOOD,  AND  MARRIAGE 

safety,  and  was  alarmed  to  hear  that  she  went  out 
in  a  phaeton  alone  with  the  sovereign — Queen  Isa- 
bella— against  whom  a  number  of  conspiracies  were 
being  hatched.  But  this  anxiety  was  not  to  last  long, 
for  barely  three  months  after  her  appointment, 
Eugenie's  mother  abandoned  of  her  own  free  will 
a  post  which  she  had  accepted  with  delight,  but  the 
difficulties  attending  which  she  had  not  realized. 
Scarcely  was  she  installed,  when  intrigues  were  set 
on  foot  to  deprive  the  Grand  Mistress  of  the  Queen's 
confidence;  the  masters  of  Spain  feared  her  intelli- 
gent energy  and  her  growing  influence.  The  future 
Empress'  mother  preferred  to  abandon  her  func- 
tions rather  than  submit  to  any  compromise.  Her 
mind  was  quickly  made  up  and  she  did  not  appear  to 
regret  her  decision. 

In  this  connection,  it  may  be  of  interest  to  give 
here  this  unpublished  reflection  of  an  intimate 
friend,  valuable  in  spite  of  flattering  phrases, 
here  and  there :  ' '  The  character  and  conduct  of  the 
mother  is  often  reflected  in  the  daughter,  who,  con- 
trary to  the  rule  suggested  by  Galton,  seemed  to 
take  after  the  female  rather  than  the  male  parent. 
When  the  Empress  Eugenie  entered  into  the  diffi- 
cult public  life  of  the  Court  of  the  Second  Empire, 
she  had  had  much  experience  in  this  sort  of  exist- 
ence, both  from  hereditary  instinct  and  from  what 
she  saw,  heard  and  guessed  during  these  early  years 
in  the  palace  circles  of  Madrid.  It  should  also  be 
borne  in  mind  in  this  connection  that  court  life  in 
Spain,  especially  in  those  stormy  days,  is  surpassed 
by  no  other  capital  in  Europe  by  its  intrigues,  its 
hidden  influences  and  the  general  sharpening  of  the 
wits  of  all  those  who  come  within  its  precincts.    If 

n 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

there  was  the  material  of  a  statesman  in  the 
Empress  Eugenie,  she  came  with  it  naturally." 

Freed  from  political  worries,  and  from  court 
intrigues  and  jealousies,  the  Countess  Montijo 
quickly  assumed  an  important  position  in  Madrid 
society,  while  her  invaluable  friend  in  France  cor- 
responded regularly  with  her  and  kept  her  informed 
of  many  inside  political  and  diplomatic  matters, 
which  she  sometimes  utilized  in  her  own  salon.  He 
even  undertook  to  do  all  sorts  of  errands  for  them. 
Merimee  had  friends  in  the  Foreign  Office,  and  he 
took  advantage  of  this  fact  to  entrust  to  the  "diplo- 
matic pouch"  not  only  long  letters,  but  also  dahlia 
and  pawlownia  seeds,  which  he  procured  at  the 
Garden  of  Plants  for  her  gardener,  and  Chinese 
lanterns  to  decorate  open-air  fetes,  according  to  the 
fashion  set  by  Comtesse  Duchatel.  Nor  did  he 
scruple  to  send  in  this  manner  satin  shoes  for  the 
young  Duchesse  d'Albe  and  costumes  from  Palmyra, 
the  fashionable  dressmaker  of  the  day.  This  good 
friend  even  tried  to  forward,  through  the  Foreign 
Office,  a  barouche;  but  at  this,  the  good-nature  of 
the  minister  rebelled. 

From  Madrid,  in  turn,  Merimee  received  fosforos, 
for  he  complained  of  being  unable  to  find  "in  such 
a  chemical  town  as  Paris"  any  matches  which  suited 
him.  He  also  was  sent  loaves  of  bread  which  he 
stated  were  much  better  than  the  French  bread  and 
w^hich  followed  him  from  town  to  town  when  he  was 
on  official  inspection  tours.  The  Delessert  ladies 
and  their  friends  asked  the  Montijor  to  get  them 
mantillas  and  Merimee  was  invited  to  the  trying-on. 

A  certain  mantilla  suited  the  Marquise  Pasquier 
very  well,  and  to  see  just  how  it  should  be  put  on, 


FAMILY,  CHILDHOOD,  AND  MARRIAGE 

she  carefully  studied  a  pencil  sketch  by  Merimee 
of  ''the  second  daughter  of  the  Comtesse,  la  petite 
Eugenie, ' '  he  wrote. 

Merimee  and  the  Countess  Montijo  did  not  confine 
this  exchange  of  attentions  wholly  to  frivolities. 
They  also  sent  their  friends  to  one  another.  The 
latter  introduced  to  him  Spanish  politicians  and 
grand  ladies,  while  the  former  would  recommend  to 
her  his  literary  friends  and  colleagues.  Thus,  to  cite 
but  one  or  two  examples  of  this  kind,  Charles  de 
Mazade,  entrusted  with  a  mission  for  Comte  de  Sal- 
vandy,  member  of  the  Academy  and  twice  minister 
of  public  instruction  under  Louis  Philippe,  was  very 
handsomely  welcomed  in  Madrid  at  the  house,  and 
later,  at  Merimee 's  suggestion,  she  carefully  read 
and  revised  the  traveling  notes  published  on  his 
return  to  France,  by  the  young  writer.  Prince 
Albert  de  Broglie,  then  attached  to  the  French 
Embassy  at  Madrid,  one  of  their  frequent 
guests.  When  recommending  him,  Merimee  re- 
minded the  Countess  of  his  ' '  real  obligations  to  the 
father  of  the  young  diplomat,"  but  chroniclers  re- 
late that  there  was  a  complete  misunderstanding  be- 
tween Spain  and  the  future  academician.  "He  con- 
sidered the  Spaniards  very  frivolous,  and  they  con- 
sidered him  too  funereal,"  the  future  Emperor  once 
truly  remarked. 

This  interesting  correspondence  of  Merimee  with 
the  Countess  Montijo  is  the  history  of  the  comings 
and  goings  of  diplomats,  an  account  of  political 
facts  and  a  record  of  social  incidents.  It  is  the  story 
of  Parisian  society  life  sent  across  the  Pyrenees,  by 
means  of  the  pen  of  a  clever  man.  This  again,  I  may 
say,  was  an  important  element  in  the  political  edu- 

13 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

cation  of  the  person  destined  to  share  the  throne  of 
a  country  whose  men,  women,  manners  and  politics 
were  thus  being  continually  described  in  the  Madrid 
home  circle  by  such  a  talented  brain  and  such  an 
observant  on-looker,  as  Prosper  Merimee.  Thanks 
largely  to  him,  it  could  be  said  of  Eugenie  perhaps 
with  some  truth,  when  she  married  Napoleon  III: 
"Why,  this  young  woman  knows  more  about  France 
and  her  peoi)le,  her  arts,  her  politics  and  her  public 
men  than  many  a  youth  who  was  bom  within  our 
boundaries  like  his  ancestors  for  several  genej-a- 
tions." 

]\rerimee's  friendship  with  the  family  was  of  such 
old  standing  that  not  only  was  he  the  first  to  be 
informed  of  the  proposed  marriage,  but  he  was  even 
chosen  as  the  fit  person  to  give  to  the  Emperor's 
representative  all  the  necessary  information  for  the 
drafting  of  the  marriage  contract.  There  had  been 
some  thought  of  giving  him  the  title  of  Chief  Secre- 
taiy;  but  that  honor  seemed  inadequate,  and  it  is, 
therefore,  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  Merimee 's 
nomination  as  Senator  was  one  of  the  first  favors 
the  Empress  asked  of  her  husband. 

It  has  been  asked  in  some  quarters  whether  Meri- 
mee felt  embarrassed  by  this  honor  to  which,  no 
doubt,  he  had  certain  claims  by  reason  of  the  serv- 
ices he  had  rendered  as  inspector  of  historical  monu- 
ments, but  which  he  knew  was  due  in  great  part  to 
the  friendly  action  of  her  whom  he  had  known  as  a 
child.  At  any  rate,  he  once  made,  in  this  connection, 
this  statement  to  his  friend  Dr.  Veron:  "You  know 
the  whole  story,  as  well  as  I  do.  Fate  willed  it,  that, 
through  sheer  lack  of  something  else  to  do,  I  went 
to  Spain  where  I  met  some  veiy  good  aud  amiable 

14 


FAMILY,  CHILDHOOD,  AND  MARRIAGE 

people  who  gave  me  a  hearty  welcome.  Among  them 
was  a  little  girl  to  whom  I  told  tales,  for  whom  I 
interceded  when  she  did  not  know  her  lessons,  and  to 
whom  later  I  preached  gentle  sermons  with  a  moral, 
— for  I  am  far  from  being  over  indulgent  to  youth. 
One  day  that  little  girl  told  me  she  was  going  to 
many  the  Emperor.  I  begged  her  to  make  me  swear 
never  to  ask  any  favor  of  her,  and  after  a  certain 
amount  of  discussion,  she  had  me  take  such  an  oath 
in  most  solemn  fashion.  The  Emperor,  nevertheless, 
in  response  to  her  request,  wished  to  give  me  a  very 
fine  position  where  there  was  much  to  do.  I  begged 
him  to  leave  me  with  my  monuments,  where  I  had 
greater  freedom.  The  Empress  then  said  to  me  in 
Spanish:  'You  will  be  given  something  else,  if  you 
do  not  accept  this,  and  you  will  be  our  enemy  in  the 
bargain. '  That  is  how  I  came  to  lose  my  liberty. " 

Merimee  was  at  his  toilet  one  morning  when  he 
received  the  official  announcement  of  his  nomina- 
tion. It  caused  him  some  surprise  and  some  embar- 
rassment. There  was  nothing  odd  in  a  literary  and 
scientific  man  accepting  a  favor  which  he  had  never 
asked  for.  But  he  made  the  mistake  of  keeping 
secret  a  nomination  which  every  one  was  sure  to 
hear  of  through  the  Moniteur.  It  has  been  said  that 
he  spent  the  previous  evening  in  a  drawing-room 
hostile  to  the  Empire,  w^here  he  kept  silent  about  the 
pending  appointment,  instead  of  openly  meeting 
criticism,  and  that,  on  that  same  evening,  he  even 
spoke  of  the  Emperor  in  terms  which  were  worse 
than  cold.  Of  course  the  Empress  never  inquired 
into  all  this  political  gossip  and  she  remembered 
only  the  Merimee  of  her  youth.  Perhaps  this  nom- 
ination was  very  badly  viewed  in  Orleanist  circles, 

15 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

where  Merimee  usually  moved.  However,  if  he  had 
been  willing  to  put  up  with  some  coldness  and 
epigrams,  he  w^ould  probably  not  have  lost  any  of 
the  friendships  which  were  dear  to  him. 

The  Emperor  has  said  on  this  point:  '^This  is 
quite  possible ;  but  what  is  certain  is  that  Merimee, 
at  the  time  of  his  nomination,  showed  a  hesitating 
attitude,-  largely  due  to  his  natural  timidity.  But, 
the  matter  once  settled,  he  became  brave  again,  and 
would  not  accept  the  period  of  penance  w^hich  cer- 
tain drawing-rooms  desired  to  subject  him  to,  as  a 
means  of  obtaining  absolution.  He  found  consola- 
tion in  other  pursuits,  not  merely  in  the  'blue  and 
gold  coat,  more  becoming  to  the  complexion  than  the 
academic  mantle  embroidered  with  tarragon,'  as 
somebody  remarked  in  this  connection." 

I  do  not  hesitate  to  transcribe  here  a  paragraph 
which  a  kind  friend  has  written,  for  at  the  core  it 
is  true,  I  am  happy  to  say.  This  life-long  supporter 
of  the  Second  Empire  speaks  as  follows  concerning 
this  episode:  ''This  affair  of  the  appointment  of 
Prosper  Merimee  to  the  Senate  well  illustrates  a 
side  of  the  character  of  the  Empress  which  endeared 
her  to  all  who  came  in  contact  with  her.  She  could 
not  forget  a  kindness  and  always  remembered  the 
friends  of  her  early  days,  wiio  had  helped  her  in  any 
way,  especially  those  who  unwittingly  contributed 
to  prepare  her  for  the  high  position  which  she  was 
eventually  called  upon  to  fill.  In  this  respect  she 
was  the  pendant  of  the  Emperor  himself  who  also 
had  a  warm  heart  for  the  friends  of  his  chequered 
youth.  But  in  dispensing  these  peculiar  favors,  the 
Empress  made  fewer  mistakes  than  her  generous 
mate,  w^hich  was  largely  due  to  the  fact  that  the 

16 


FAMILY,  CHILDHOOD,  AND  MARRIAGE 

Emperor  had  gone  through  hard  times  and  had  been 
served  at  moments  by  far  from  wholly  worthy  indi- 
viduals. But  Merimee  was  an  exceptionally  meri- 
torious 'friend  of  the  first  hour'  and  both  Emperor 
and  Empress  honored  themselves  in  honoring 
him. ' ' 

I  have  dwelt  at  considerable  length  on  the  Em- 
press' relations  with  Merimee  because  her  associa- 
tions with  him  were  not  only  exceedingly  pleasant 
but  because  he  really  had  a  strong  influence  on  her 
mental  development,  and  also  because  the  story  has 
not  always  been  told  as  I  have  just  told  it.  Per- 
haps I  should  add,  further,  that  I  have  done  this, 
too,  because  he  had  to  do  directly  and  indirectly 
with  Eugenie's  marriage,  though  it  is  not  necessary 
to  go  further  into  this  matter  here. 

When  it  was  finally  settled  that  she  was  to  marry 
the  Emperor,  Eugenie  immediately  informed  Queen 
Isabella  of  Spain,  who  then  sat  on  the  throne, 
in  a  formal  letter,  in  which  she  declared  that  ''I 
shall  have  no  other  thought  than  to  contribute,  in 
the  measure  of  my  powers,  to  strengthen  the  bonds 
which  unite  two  great  nations  and  two  great  mon- 
archs,  to  whose  service  I  shall  be  consecrated  by  love 
and  duty  for  ever." 

Queen  Isabella's  reply  pleased  both  Napoleon  and 
Eugenie,  especially  the  portion  where  she  said:  **I 
give  my  full  consent  to  a  union  which  is  so  splendid 
for  you,  and  you  may  rest  assured  that  I  entertain 
best  wishes  for  your  happiness  and  that  of  the 
Emperor,  expressing  the  hope  that,  both  being 
guided  by  the  hand  of  the  All  Powerful,  you  will 
lead  France,  that  great  nation,  to  the  highest  degree 

of  prosperity   and   comfort.     In   the   difficult   and 

17 


MEMOIES  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

dangerous  path  which  you  are  henceforth  to  tread, 
always  keep  for  gTiide,  faith  in  the  Supreme  Being 
and  the  duty  of  sacrificing  everything  to  the  Em- 
peror and  to  France.  Such  are  the  sentiments  of  the 
Queen  and  the  counsels  of  your  affectionate  Isa- 
bella." 

The  Empress  then  and  there  decided  that  she 
would  ever  do  all  in  her  power  to  keep  up  the  friend- 
liest relations  between  France  and  Spain,  for  under 
every  regime  and  in  all  times,  an  allied  or  neutral 
southwestern  frontier  has  been  a  source  of  great 
strength  to  France,  negative  though  it  may  be  in  its 
nature.  The  importance  of  this  came  out  sadly  in 
1870,  when  France  and  Grermany  were  precipitated 
into  a  dreadful  conflict,  because  this  principle 
seemed  to  be  overlooked  for  a  moment  in  Spain.  At 
that  time  the  Empress  labored  with  all  her  might 
to  do  what  she  could  to  prevent  the  catastrophe  and 
so  did  Queen  Isabella,  who  was  then  leading  in  Paris 
the  life  of  an  exile.  During  this  crisis  Eugenie  re- 
minded her  of  the  message  to  her  in  January,  1853, 
and  of  her  reply,  and  added :  ' '  Now  we  can  both,  in 
France  itself,  labor  to  prevent  Spain  from  doing 
such  an  unfriendly  act  as  to  put  on  a  throne,  once 
so  worthily  filled  by  your  Majesty,  a  Grerman 
prince."  The  ex-Queen  replied  immediately:  "I 
have  not  forgotten  those  far-off  days,  and  I  am 
laboring,  as  you  may  w^ell  imagine,  and  as  you  and 
the  good  Emperor  are  laboring,  to  prevent  this 
threatening  disaster.  May  we  all  succeed  in  our 
honest  efforts!"  The  Queen  did  strive,  and  with 
success,  in  obtaining  from  this  Spanish  government 
the  abandonment  of  this  fatal  policy.  On  this  point, 
the  Emperor  said  one  day:  "If  half  of  the  diplomats 

18 


FAMILY,  CHILDHOOD,  AND  MARRIAGE 

concerned  in  this  mad  affair  had  the  talent  and  the 
honest  heart  of  Queen  Isabella  we  would  not  only 
have  been  out  of  this  imbroglio  long  ago,  but  we 
should  never  have  got  into  it!"  Some  one  repeated 
this  wise  remark  to  the  Queen,  when  she  said  ear- 
nestly:  "I  do  not  know  whether  I  have  talent  of  any 
kind,  but  I  do  know  that  in  this  Hohenzollem  cam- 
paign, I  was  honest  in  heart.  Of  that  I  am  sure." 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  COUP  d'etat 

A  GREAT  deal  has  been  written  about  the  Coup 
d'Etat  of  December  2,  1851,  by  which  Prince  Louis 
Napoleon  became  the  supreme  head  of  France  and 
which  made  him  Emperor  a  year  later.  But  the  acts 
and  causes  which  led  up  to  this  important  event 
have  not  always  been  given  in  the  same  way  or  in 
the  same  spirit;  so  it  has  appeared  interesting  to 
state  here  the  official  version  of  the  Emperor  and 
his  friends.  On  several  occasions,  the  Emperor 
spoke  in  my  presence,  to  me  or  to  others,  concerning 
the  persons  and  events  of  the  Coup  d'Etat,  his 
' '  coming  out  from  the  legal  circle  and  entering  into 
law  and  order, ' '  as  he  used  to  put  it.  What  I  say  in 
the  pages  which  follow  is  based  on  these  conversa- 
tions, on  conversations  with  other  actors  in  that 
event  and  on  notes  made  by  me  in  my  readings.  My 
rather  retentive  memory  is  also  called  upon  here  as 
everywhere  throughout  these  volumes,  though  in  no 
case  do  I  rely  on  it  alone  for  a  fact  or  a  statement 
of  importance,  for  I  know  by  experience  how  treach- 
erous one's  unaided  memory  often  is.  In  this  con- 
nection, I  recall  a  frequent  remark  of  the  Emperor. 
He  would  say:  ''I  have  often  found  myself  deceived 
by  my  o^vn  memory.  I  had  read  or  heard  things, 
which  I  finally  got  to  think  emanated  from  me, 
whereas  they  were  really  quite  foreign  to  me  and  I 

20 


THE  COUP  D'ETAT 

could  not  at  all  vouch  for  their  exactitude.  And  yet 
I  was  telling  them  as  my  own  and  believing  im- 
plicitly in  them.  Mistrust  your  memory  as  you  do 
your  wife,"  he  would  say  in  closing,  looking  at 
Eugenie  with  a  whimsical  expression  that  meant  of 
course  that  he  was  teasing  her  a  little.  The  Emperor 
in  his  familiar  movements  immensely  enjoyed  ban- 
ter and  good-humored  irony.  As  he  was  always 
solemn  and  reserved  in  public,  those  who  did  not 
know  him  well  imagined  that  he  was  heavy  and  un- 
responsive. But  this  was  a  great  mistake.  Napoleon 
had  a  light  sunny  side  that  accounts  largely  for  the 
charm  which  he  occasioned  in  the  eyes  and  hearts  of 
all  who  came  close  to  him  and  in  whom  he  confided. 
Few  men  had  warmer  friends  and  few  made  fewer 
enemies  than  Napoleon  III. 

The  cabinet  formed  on  January  24,  1851,  com- 
posed wholly  of  members  chosen  outside  of  the  As- 
sembly, had  lasted  three  months,  when  the  Prince 
President  of  the  Republic  decided  to  yield  to  the 
demands  of  public  opinion  and  select  a  cabinet  taken 
entirely  from  members  of  the  Assembly,  hoping  by 
this  means  to  unite  more  closely  the  executive  and 
the  legislative  branches  of  the  government.  So  on 
April  4th,  of  this  same  year,  the  Prince  charged 
Odilon  Barrot,  one  of  the  old-school  French  liberals, 
with  the  mission  of  forming  this  new  ministry.  The 
President  reserved  for  his  friends  onl}^  the  port- 
folios of  Justice  and  Finance,  leaving  all  the  other 
posts  to  the  Majority.  But  Odilon  Barrot  failed. 
His  friends  wished  to  exclude  from  the  new  ministry 
all  of  the  supporters  of  the  President.  This  event  is 
not  always  presented  in  this  light;  but,  nevertheless, 
this  is  the  true  light.  The  Prince,  therefore,  decided 

21 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

to  t'omi  a  cabinet  made  up  of  some  of  the  members 
of  the   last   one,   and   introduced  new  men  whose 
ability  had  been   tried.    On  the   morrow,   Sainte- 
Beuve,   who   afterwards  became   a   senator  of  the 
Second  Empire,  proposed  a  vote  of  distrust  in  the 
President!   But  all  these  wild  efforts  of  the  fright- 
ened parliamentarians,  who  felt  that  the  power  to 
goveiTi  was  to  be  wrested  from  them,  only  added  to 
the  strength  of  the  Prince.    All  those  who  wished 
order  to  reign,  were  deserting  the  turbulent  minor- 
ities of  the  Assembly  and  putting  their  trust  in  him. 
The  Emperor,  in  after  years,  often  spoke  to  his 
faithful  friends   and  especially  to  those  who  had 
helped  him  to  accomplish  his  destiny,  of  the  strug- 
gles of  this  period.   "One  might  reap  a  rich  harvest 
and  gain  much  information,"  he   said   on  one   of 
these  occasions,  "by  the  perusal  of  the  numerous 
articles,  pamphlets,   speeches   and  publications   of 
various  sorts  which  appeared  at  this  time,  all  deal- 
ing with  me  and  my  policy.    There  were  conflicts 
then  of  word  and  pen."  On  these  occasions  he  used 
to  recall  the  following  remarks  of  a  man  who  was 
never  his  friend,  but  who  sometimes  spoke  justly  of 
him,  Thiers:  "The  Majority  is  in  fragments.    The 
President,  who  seemed  to  owe  his  strength  to  his 
association  with  the  Assembly,  now  walks  alone,  not 
only   without   the    support    of   the    Assembly,   but 
against  it.   This  divorce  has  not  weakened  him,  has 
not  humiliated  him,  has  not  even  put  him  in  a  bad 
temper.     He    possesses    self-control,    perseverance, 
and  strength  of  character.    He  has  gained  ground 
and  friends.    Nobody  can  question  these  assertions; 
what  I  say  is  evident  to  every  fair  mind."  "Thiers 
didn't  always  hit  the  nail  so  well  on  the  head,"  the 

99 


THE  COUP  D'ETAT 

Emperor  used  to  add  with  a  smile,  after  quoting  this 
passage  from  memory. 

At  this  moment  there  was  a  general  demand  for 
the  revision  of  the  constitution  with  a  view  to  the 
prolongation  of  the  President's  term  of  office.  The 
Assembly  could,  in  accordance  with  the  constitu- 
tion, take  up  the  question  on  May  28,  1851,  that  date 
being  the  beginning  of  the  last  year  of  that  legis- 
lature. A  series  of  articles  published  in  the  Consti- 
tutionnel  as  early  as  1850  had  called  the  attention  of 
the  press  to  the  matter,  and  public  opinion  had  also 
begun  to  manifest  very  plainly  its  ideas  on  the  sub- 
ject. "Little  by  little  the  tiny  spark  grew  into  a  big 
flame,"  said  the  Emperor  at  a  later  date,  and  peti- 
tions in  favor  of  the  prolongation  began  to  circu- 
late all  over  France.  In  fact,  so  intense  was  the 
movement,  that  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  felt 
called  upon  to  cool  the  zeal  of  some  of  the  partisans 
of  the  reform.  In  the  meantime,  a  central  committee 
was  organized  to  receive  the  petitions,  though  many 
were  presented  directly  to  the  Assembly,  through 
the  people's  representatives.  The  Extreme  Left,  or 
the  Mountain,  as  it  was  called,  moved  that  these 
petitions  be  rejected  on  the  ground  that  they  were 
unconstitutional;  but  these  opponents  were  finally 
forced  to  give  way  before  the  rising  tide.  From  May 
5  to  June  31  no  fewer  than  13,294  petitions  were 
laid  before  the  Assembly,  bearing  1,123,625  names. 
Of  these  signers,  741,011  prayed  that  the  constitu- 
tion be  revised,  while  382,624  others  did  not  hesitate 
to  ask  that  it  be  revised  in  such  a  way  as  to  lengthen 
the  President's  terra,  I^>y  the  end  of  July,  the  num- 
ber of  petitions  had  reached  the  formidable  number 
of  a  round  300,000,  exclusive  of  only  526  opposed  to 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

revision.  The  parties  whose  plans  had  been  upset 
by  these  popular  manifestations  accused  the  govern- 
ment of  having  brought  pressure  to  bear  to  produce 
these  results.  But  two  months  later,  eighty  Depart- 
ments out  of  eighty-five,  through  their  Councils  Gen- 
eral, or  Departmental  Legislatures,  called  upon  the 
Assembly  to  carry  out  the  revision  of  the  constitu- 
tion. Men  of  sense  recognized  the  fact  that  the 
nation  demanded  a  change.  Berryer,  Dufaure, 
Odilon  Barrot  and  others,  who  were  not  friends  of 
the  Prince-President,  admitted  that  the  people 
wanted  the  term  of  office  prolonged.  No  one  ques- 
tioned the  necessity  of  a  coup  d'etat  of  some  sort, 
whether  brought  about  by  the  parliamentarians  or 
the  executive  power,  if  proper  conditions  of  order, 
authority  and  government  were  to  be  reestablished 
in  France ;  there  must  be  some  escape  through  ener- 
getic and  determined  means,  from  the  complicated 
situation.  As  to  the  character  of  the  method  to  be 
employed  or  the  way  of  accomplishing  it,  there  was 
diversity  of  opinion.  Hence  the  many  plans,  varying 
in  certain  particulars  but  similar  in  their  results, 
and  all  a  violation  of  the  constitution,  which  were 
proposed  to  Prince  Louis  Napoleon  during  his  three 
years'  presidency.  The  idea  of  an  appeal  to  the 
people  became  very  general  and  seemed  all  the  more 
fitting  because  it  received  the  approval  of  such  men 
as  Thiers,  Comte  Falloux,  Montalembert,  the  Due  de 
Mortemart,  General  Changarnier  and  Comte  Mole. 
These  facts  should  be  kept  in  mind  by  those  who  are 
prone  to  criticize  the  action  of  the  Prince-President 
a  few  months  later. 

The   first  precise   proposal  came   from   General 
Changarnier,  and  followed  almost  immediately  after 

24 


THE  COUP  D'ETAT 

the  popular  vote  of  December,  1848,  which  made 
Louis  Napoleon  President  of  the  Republic.  The  gen- 
eral has  denied  the  charge  of  having  sought  to  bring 
about  a  coup  d'etat,  declaring  that  it  was  to  increase 
the  prestige  of  the  constitution,  not  in  order  to 
destroy  it,  that  he  was  ready  to  disperse  the  As- 
sembly, with  the  assistance  of  Odilon  Barrot  him- 
self, if  such  an  energetic  measure  were  necessary. 
In  any  case.  General  Changarnier  went  further  than 
anybody  else  had  during  these  stormy  days,  for  he 
made  sure  of  the  support  of  the  second  regiment  of 
dragoons.  In  excuse,  he  held  that  his  responsibili- 
ties as  general-in-chief  obliged  him  to  follow  a  firm 
and  prudent  course.  But  it  could  not  be  considered 
as  an  act  of  devotion  to  the  constitution,  his  willing- 
ness in  January,  1849,  to  cooperate  by  means  of  a 
great  show  of  military  force  in  the  reestablishment 
of  the  Empire ;  and  yet  that  is  what  he  did.  On  the 
29th  of  that  month,  Paris  had  a  great  fright.  There 
was  a  mutiny  among  the  militia  and  much  effer- 
vescence among  the  ''reds"  because  of  a  proposal 
to  dissolve  the  Assembly.  The  insurrectionary  party 
which  had  been  defeated  in  the  bloody  uprising  of 
the  month  of  June  of  the  preceding  year  had  con- 
ceived the  thought  of  taking  advantage  of  this  un- 
easiness to  bring  about  a  formidable  revolt.  But  the 
government  was  on  the  alert  and  immediately  took 
strong  measures  to  defend  itself,  and  Paris  awoke  to 
find  itself  caught  in  a  net  of  steel  and  iron.  This  act 
of  energ}^  sufficed  and  the  terrified  mob  did  not 
move.  General  Changarnier,  who  was  the  ruling 
spirit  on  this  occasion,  then  thought — nor  was  he 
alone  in  this  way  of  thinking — that  the  setting  up  of 
the  Empire  was  the  surest  manner  of  bringing  about 

25 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

a  solid  government.  If  his  wish  had  been  realized 
and  had  been  realized  under  his  direction,  the  dema- 
gogues would  have  been  curbed  and  all  France 
would  have  welcomed  the  act.  But  the  Prince  at  first 
repelled  every  attempt  to  induce  him  to  hasten 
events  by  violent  measures.  ' '  I  was  opposed  to  any 
attack  on  legal  institutions,"  he  said  at  a  later 
period,  referring  to  this  moment;  "I  wished  t^ 
avoid  extreme  steps  which  did  not  seem  indispen- 
sable for  the  salvation  of  society. ' '  Changarnier  did 
not  hide  his  regret  and  astonishment  at  the  Prince's 
moderation  and  said  on  more  than  one  occasion: 
"The  President  missed  a  fine  opportunity  to  put 
things  to  rights.  He  made  a  mistake,  for  he  will  not 
meet  with  another  like  it. ' '  If  General  Changarnier 
bad  had  his  way,  the  Empire  would  have  come  three 
years  sooner,  and  he  would  not  have  been  in  a  posi- 
tion to  express  very  different  views  concerning  this 
Empire  from  those  which  he  expressed  a  little  later. 
As  the  Emperor  well  said:  "Changarnier  found  out 
hovr  to  make  himself  decidedly  hostile  to  me  as  soon 
as  events  got  straightened  out  and  he  saw  that  I 
meant  to  act  for  myself."  It  was  natural,  therefore, 
that  the  General  should  fall  from  power,  which  hap- 
pened (m  January  10,  1851,  wlien  he  was  deprived  of 
the  command  of  the  Paris  national  g"uard. 

Thiers  also  had  shown  a  willingTiess  to  sacrifice 
the  constitution  in  order  to  reestablish  a  strong 
government.  "But  of  course  he  was  not  working  for 
the  Imperial  Government,"  Xapoleon  would  say 
with  a  smile,  which  meant  that  Thiers,  as  always, 
was  working  for  himself  alone.  His  first  idea  was  to 
lengthen  the  President's  term,  making  it  ten  years, 
which  was  a  breach  of  the  constitution.    "We  may 

26 


THE  COUP  D'ETAT 

suppose  that  M.  Thiers  was  delaying  the  carrying 
out  of  this  plan, ' '  the  Emperor  would  say, ' '  until  he 
should  be  at  the  head  of  affairs;  like  many  others, 
he  found  the  time  long  between  changes  of  cab- 
inets!" This  idea  of  Thiers  frightened  the  parlia- 
mentary groups,  especially  the  party  in  power  which 
pretended  that  the  presidency  was  a  danger  to  the 
republic.  Thiers  fancied  that  ''the  Prince's  thirst 
for  power, "  as  he  styled  it,  would  be  quenched  if  he 
was  given  ten  years  of  it.  But  the  parliamentary 
leaders  were  mistaken  in  imagining  that  the  Prince- 
President  was  privy  to  these  plans.  His  ideas  as  to 
the  remedy  for  the  political  malady  were  of  quite 
another  sort.  They  were  revealed  in  his  vigorous 
message,  dated  October  31,  1849,  wherein  it  was 
made  plain  that  Louis  Napoleon  and  not  the  As- 
sembly meant  to  govern  the  country.  This  message 
and  this  policy  cut  short  the  proposed  changes  in 
the  constitution,  and  prevented  M.  Thiers  and  his 
friends  from  violating  that  instrument. 

Comte  Mole  also  had  coup  d'etat  ideas  running 
in  his  head.  He  did  not  hesitate  to  declare  to  those 
who  would  listen  and  even  to  those  who  would  not 
listen,  that  the  Constituent  Assembly,  in  view  of  the 
organization  which  it  had  given  to  the  executive 
branch,  would  not  be  able  to  establish  a  solid  gov- 
ernment. Though  in  1851,  he  was  violently  opposed 
to  the  Prince-President's  policy,  in  1850,  he  ap- 
peared convinced  of  the  necessity  of  reestablishing 
Imperial  institutions,  especially  after  the  decidedly 
republican  elections  at  Paris,  in  March  of  that  year, 
which  threw  the  moderate  parties  into  consterna- 
tion. ' '  We  must  reestablish  the  Empire ;  that  alone 
can  bring  us  out  of  this  disorder,"  he  said — which 

27 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPEESS  EUGENIE 

remark  the  Emperor  would  also  quote  from 
memory. 

Overtures  were  made  to  the  Prince  and  plans 
were  drafted  in  view  of  preserving  order  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Government.  But  this  spirit  of  con- 
cord did  not  last  very  long.  Some  of  these  leaders  of 
the  moderate  party  never  entirely  gave  up  their 
early  convictions  and  rallied  round  the  President 
only  because  he  appeared  to  be  the  firmest  center  in 
the  general  upheaval.  All  this  agitation  culminated 
at  a  meeting  held  at  Comte  Mole's  castle  of  Cham- 
platreux,  in  September,  1851,  The  plan  there  dis- 
cussed had  as  its  foundation,  the  reelection  of 
Prince  Louis  Napoleon  as  President,  the  establish- 
ment of  two  legislative  chambers  and  energetic 
measures  to  be  taken  against  the  socialist  party. 
But  no  precise  form  of  execution  of  this  program 
was  decided  upon,  so  that  the  Prince,  while  fully 
appreciating  the  good  intentions  which  had  actuated 
these  worthy  gentlemen,  could  not  look  upon  their 
work  as  very  serious,  and,  in  fact,  the  whole  scheme 
was  not  long  in  dwindling  to  pieces. 

In  the  meantime,  the  struggle  between  the  Execu- 
tive and  the  Assembly  threatened  to  become  acute, 
and  men  of  order  began  more  than  ever  to  delib- 
erate as  to  the  best  extra-constitutional  solution  of 
the  problem.  Most  of  them  favored  a  coup  cVetat 
of  some  sort,  but  there  was  great  diversity  of  opin- 
ion as  to  what  form  it  should  take.  The  monarchical 
parties  desired  to  control  the  movement,  using  the 
Prince  for  their  own  ends,  while  he  hesitated  over 
the  details  more  than  over  the  main  question.  But 
on  one  point  his  mind  was  fully  made  up — he  did 
not  intend  to  be  duped  by  the  groups  of  the  Bight, 

28 


THE  COUP  D'ETAT 

especially  as  he  knew  he  could  count  on  the  support 
of  three  hundred  members  of  the  Assembly. 

The  newspapers  added  to  the  confusion.  The 
democratic  press  was  opposed  to  any  revision  of 
the  constitution.  The  royalist  journals  were  ready 
to  accept  revision  provided  it  were  profitable  to  the 
monarchy,  but  the  Orleanist  division  of  the  royalists 
was  opposed,  holding  that  revision  could  be  of 
advantage  only  to  the  Imperialists.  Of  all  the  Paris 
papers,  the  Journal  des  Debats  came  out  squarely 
in  favor  of  revision.  No  wonder  that  in  the  midst 
of  such  confusion,  Napoleon  felt  more  than  ever 
that  he  w^as  called  upon  to  act  and  not  to  talk. 
''There  was  nothing  else  to  be  done  but  what  I  did 
do, ' '  he  used  always  to  say,  w^hen  closing  a  conversa- 
tion on  this  period. 

Another  serious  obstacle  which  lay  in  the  way  of 
revision  was  Article  III  of  the  constitution  which 
required  a  three  fourths  vote  in  favor  of  a  change 
before  any  could  be  made;  and  as  there  were  750 
members  of  the  Assembly,  less  than  200  could  defeat 
such  a  measure.  "The  revision  motion  will  not 
pass,"  exclaimed  one  of  the  leading  republican  edi- 
tors of  the  time,  "for  our  party  is  sufficiently 
strong  in  the  house  to  prevent  it."  And  he  was 
right. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  Prince-President  had 
determined  to  cany  the  question  before  the  people 
in  a  number  of  public  addresses.  The  notes  on  which 
these  speeches  were  based  exist,  and  it  is  from  them 
that  the  following  passages  are  selected,  rather  than 
from  the  printed  copy  given  at  the  time,  which  was 
not  always  correct.  These  notes  show  what  the 
Prince  really  had  in  his  own  mind,  some  of  which 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

thoughts  he  did  not  feel  able  always  to  make  public 
when  the  opportunity  oifered  for  doing  so. 

On  June  1,  1851,  at  Dijon,  he  spoke  about  as  fol- 
lows in  one  passage  of  his  speech:  '^ Neither 
intrigues,  nor  attacks,  nor  discussions  of  a  passionate 
nature  between  parties  are  in  harmony  with  the 
sentiments  or  the  condition  of  the  country.  France 
neither  desires  a  return  to  the  old  regime,  whatever 
may  be  the  form  under  which  it  is  disguised,  nor  an 
experiment  with  Utopias  which  are  fatal  and  im- 
practicable. The  country  puts  its  trust  in  me  be- 
cause I  am  the  most  natural  adversary  of  both  sys- 
tems. If  this  w^ere  not  so,  how  do  you  explain  the 
kindly  way  in  which  I  am  treated  by  the  people, 
despite  all  the  adverse  polemics  ?  I  may  add  that  it 
is  this  kindly  treatment  which  takes  the  sting  from 
these  polemics  in  so  far  as  they  are  directed  against 
me.  If  my  administration  has  not  been  able  to 
accomplish  all  the  reforms  we  wished,  this  is  due 
to  the  maneuver  of  the  factions  which  paralyze  all 
the  efforts  of  Assembly  and  Government.  During 
the  last  three  years,  I  have  always  been  well 
seconded  when  it  was  a  question  of  putting  down 
disorder.  But  when  the  matter  in  hand  was  the 
amelioration  of  the  lot  of  the  people,  then  I  met 
nothing  but  inertia.  But  a  new  phase  of  our  politi- 
cal era  has  commenced.  From  one  end  of  France  to 
the  other,  petitions  are  being  signed  demanding  the 
revision  of  the  constitution.  I  await  with  confidence 
the  voice  of  the  country  and  the  action  of  the  As- 
sembly, which,  I  feel  sure,  will  be  actuated  only  by  a 
wish  to  do  what  is  demanded  for  the  public  welfare. 
If  France  holds  that  no  one  has  the  right  to  settle 
what  her  fate  shall  be  without  first  consulting  her  at 

30 


THE  COUP  D'ETAT 

the  polls,  I  will  see  that  this  is  done.  Since  I  have 
been  in  power,  I  have  proved  that  I  have  always  put 
the  interests  of  society  before  my  own  personal 
interests.  The  most  unjust  and  violent  attacks  have 
not  succeeded  in  drawing  me  from  my  calm  atti- 
tude. Whatever  duties  the  nation  may  lay  upon  me 
will  be  faithfully  carried  out,  and  you  may  rest 
assured  that  France  will  not  perish  in  my  hands." 
This  language  reassured  the  provinces  which  had 
been  disturbed  by  the  underhand  work  of  the  dema- 
gogues of  socialism;  it  quieted  all  law-abiding  citi- 
zens, and  drove  far  from  men's  thoughts  the  night- 
mare of  disorder.  In  the  Assembly,  those  who  hoped 
to  get  control  of  the  power,  which  they  would  not 
leave  in  the  hands  of  the  Prince,  pronounced  these 
words  to  be  pure  bravado.  They  called  forth  many 
replies,  and  among  these  was  the  well-known  one 
of  General  Changarnier,  who  had  been  removed 
from  the  command  of  the  national  guard,  in  January 
of  this  year.  In  June,  1851 — a  few  months  before 
the  Coup  d'Etat — he  said  in  the  tribune:  ''The 
army,  no  more  than  yourselves,  does  not  desire  to 
see  France  a  prey  to  the  misery  and  shame  of  the 
government  of  a  Caesar,  alternatively  set  up  and 
thrown  down  by  disorderly  pretorians.  No  one 
could  get  our  soldiers  to  march  against  the  As- 
sembly. Not  a  battalion,  not  a  company,  not  a 
squadron  could  be  induced  to  make  such  a  fatal  mis- 
take; and  those  who  should  try  to  influence  them  in 
such  a  direction,  would  find  themselves  confronted 
by  the  chiefs  whom  our  soldiers  are  accustomed  to 
follow  in  the  path  of  duty  and  honor.  Representa- 
tives of  France,  continue  your  deliberations  in 
peace!"   AVhen,  in  after  years,  Napoleon  III  read 

31 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

this  passage,  on  one  or  two  occasions,  he  never 
could  suppress  a  smile. 

The  preliminary  work  for  the  revision  of  the  con- 
stitution was  still  going  on  in  the  Assembly.  M.  de 
Tocqueville,  chairman  of  the  committee  having  the 
matter  in  hand,  made  his  report  on  June  25,  1851, 
and  it  came  up  for  debate  about  the  middle  of  July. 
During  this  time,  the  Prince-President  continued 
his  journeys,  which  were  veritable  triumphal 
marches  wherever  he  went.  Here  is  one  of  the  notes 
made  for  his  Tours  speech  of  July  1,  of  this  year : 
"I  look  without  fear  on  the  country's  future,  for  its 
salvation  will  always  come  from  the  people's  will, 
freely  expressed  and  religiously  observed;  and  I 
earnestly  hope  for  the  solemn  moment  when  the 
powerful  voice  of  the  nation  shall  dominate  all  op- 
position and  bring  about  concord  among  warring 
factions;  for  it  is  very  sad  to  note  that  the  revolu- 
tions w^hich  shake  society  to  its  very  foundations 
and  leave  a  heap  of  ruins  behind,  cannot  uproot  the 
old  passions,  the  old  exigencies,  the  old  elements  of 
trouble. ' ' 

On  July  6,  the  President  spoke  at  a  towm  ban- 
quet at  Beauvais,  on  the  occasion  of  the  unveiling 
of  a  statue  to  Jeanne  Hachette,  the  heroine  who 
defended  this  place  when  it  was  besieged  in  1472  by 
Charles  the  Bold.  According  to  his  notes,  he  said: 
**It  is  encouraging  to  remember  that  in  moments  of 
extreme  danger,  Providence  often  permits  a  single 
person  to  be  the  instrument  of  the  salvation  of  all. 
Yet  Jeanne  Hachette,  like  Jeanne  d'Arc,  did  no 
more  than  to  show  Frenchmen  the  path  to  honor 
and  duty  and  to  walk  at  their  head  in  that  path.  It 
was  Napoleon  who,  in  1806,  reestablished  the  old 

32 


THE  COUP  D'ETAT 

custom,  which  had  long  been  abandoned,  of  celebrat- 
ing the  end  of  the  siege  of  Beauvais.  He  did  so 
because  for  him  France  was  not  a  fictitious  land, 
bom  of  yesterday,  enclosed  within  the  limits  of  a 
single  epoch  and  bound  up  in  a  single  party,  but  a 
great  nation  resulting  from  eight  hundred  years  of 
monarchy,  still  great  after  ten  years  of  revolution, 
laboring  for  the  fusion  of  all  old  and  new  interests 
and  making  its  own  all  glory  without  exception  of 
time  or  cause." 

Henceforth,  the  Prince  was  determined  to  remain 
at  the  head  of  the  state.  He  preferred  to  accomplish 
this  end  by  reelection,  which  necessitated  the  re- 
vision of  the  article  rendering  reelection  impos- 
sible. After  several  days  of  debate  in  the  Assembly, 
the  measure  was  voted  down,  and  the  President  saw 
that  he  could  not  remain  in  power  by  this  means.  He 
also  saw  that  though  the  constitution  was  not  re- 
vised, it  was  stricken  to  death.  This  long  discus- 
sion had  made  it  clear  that  revision  would  have  been 
voted  if  eacli  party  could  have  revised  according  to 
its  own  wishes.  In  a  word,  a  majority  of  the  As- 
sembly and  the  countiy  desired  revision,  but  tlie 
requirements  of  a  three  quarters  vote  prevented  the 
solving  of  the  problem.  ''It  was  a  victory  for  the 
opposers  of  the  lengthening  of  my  term  of  office," 
said  the  Emperor  one  day.  **But  my  enemies  were 
not  contented  to  stop  there  in  their  hounding  of 
me."  In  fact,  the  Assembly  passed  a  resolution 
blaming  the  administration  for  the  criticisms  of  the 
conduct  of  public  affairs  contained  in  the  petitions 
already  referred  to.  ''But,"  continues  the  Emperor, 
"the  country  soon  replied  to  this  awkward  vote  of 
blame,  with  a  calmness  and  a  dignity  which  made  an 

33 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

impression  on  me  that  I  have  never  forgotten,  and 
which  also  greatly  influenced  public  opinion  both  in 
France  and  in  foreign  parts."  In  the  August  fol- 
lowing this  vote,  the  General  Councils,  or  Depart- 
mental Legislatures,  held  their  summer  session  and, 
before  separating,  most  of  them  passed  very  signifi- 
cant resolutions  touching  on  the  question  of  the 
hour.  Out  of  eighty-five  of  these  bodies,  eighty 
demanded  that  the  constitution  be  revised  on  the 
lines  desired  by  the  Prince-President,  only  three  did 
not  take  the  matter  under  consideration  and  but  two 
opposed  it.  Among  these  eighty,  only  one  declared 
the  revision  to  be  in  the  interest  of  the  republican 
form  of  government.  ''If  this  were  not  an  invitation 
to  establish  the  Empire,"  remarked  the  Emperor, 
' '  what  was  it  ?  The  popular  vote  was  evidently  at  the 
bottom  of  this  action  of  the  Councils  General;  they 
were  better  informed  than  was  the  National 
Assembly. ' ' 

The  parliamentary  struggle  had  been  warm,  the 
speeches  were  many,  and  the  summer  was  hot  and 
far  advanced.  So,  after  leaving  a  sort  of  permanent 
executive  committee  behind,  the  Assembly  ad- 
journed till  the  beginning  of  November.  But  neither 
the  public  mind  nor  the  Elysee  took  any  rest.  From 
that  moment,  Prince  Louis  Napoleon  began  to  make 
the  final  preparations  for  the  approaching  coup 
d'etat.  One  day  about  this  time.  General  de  Lamor- 
ciere  remarked  to  a  friend:  ''The  coup  d'etat  will 
occur  w^hen  the  President  has  found  the  man  he  is 
looking  for;  and  this  man,  who  will  shrink  from 
nothing,  is  in  Algeria.  When  you  see  Saint  Arnaud 
in  the  War  Office,  then  you  may  say  that  the  coup 

34 


THE  COUP  D'ETAT 

d'etat  is  at  hand."  This  prophecy  was  soon  to  be 
realized. 

Meanwhile,  there  was  much  agitation  among  the 
different  political  parties  but  the  leaders  did  not 
seem  to  perceive  into  what  discredit  the  Assembly 
had  fallen  in  the  eyes  of  the  nation,  nor  the  ardent 
wish  of  the  country  for  a  more  centralized  and 
stronger  government,  nor  the  ever-increasing  as- 
cendancy of  the  Prince-President,  who  became  more 
and  more  the  hope  of  the  whole  people.  Nor  did  they 
appear  to  hear  the  cries  of  the  socialistic  demagogy, 
announcing  the  era  of  pillage  and  murder  for  1852, 
but  went  about  with  their  eyes  and  ears  closed,  en- 
gaged in  seeking  candidates  for  the  presidential 
office,  when  a  novice  in  public  affairs  should  have 
perceived  that  that  office  was  not  to  become  vacant ! 
Some  of  these  nominating  bodies  were  serious,  while 
others  could  be  regarded  only  as  childish.  Thus,  one 
of  the  organs  of  the  latter  category  proposed  as  a 
candidate  Martin  Nadaud,  the  bricklayer  deputy. 
Not  less  absurd  was  the  suggestion  which  came  from 
the  editor-in-chief  of  the  venerable  Gazette  de 
France  that  votes  be  cast  for  Henri  de  la  Eoche- 
jacquelin,  son  of  the  famous  anti-republican  general 
of  the  Vendean  insurrection  of  the  first  revolution. 
The  republicans  pushed  to  the  fore,  Carnot,  son  of 
the  famous  war  minister  of  the  revolution  and 
father  of  the  future  president  of  the  third  republic. 
General  Changarnier,  afraid  of  being  forgotten, 
nominated  himself  and  coquetted  with  the  Legiti- 
mists and  the  Orleanists,  and  fell  between  two 
stools,  as  he  richly  deserved  to  do. 

''One  fraction  of  the  Orleanists  then  took  up  the 
candidacy  of  the   Prince   de   Joinville,"   said  the 

35 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

Emperor  one  day,  "while  the  Legitimists  who  could 
not  hit  upon  a  good  leader,  closed  around  me.  Gen- 
eral Changarnier  then  perceived  how  his  influence 
had  waned  since  the  day  when  he  separated  his  line 
of  conduct  from  my  own.  United  with  me,  he  had 
played  the  part  of  the  Champion  of  order,  my  right 
arm  charged  with  the  defense  of  authority  in  face  of 
demagogy  and  anarchy.  From  the  moment  when  he 
refused  to  follow  me,  he  was  no  longer  much  needed 
by  anybody  and  he  became  a  malcontent,  a  general 
without  a  command,  '  waiting  for  something  to  turn 
up.'  "  Concerning  the  Joinville  candidature,  which 
had  been  invented  by  the  Journal  des  Debats,  the 
Emperor  said:  "In  the  first  place,  it  was  unconstitu- 
tional, as  he  was  exiled.  Moreover,  it  would  have 
occasioned  another  division  in  the  Bourbon  family 
and  grafted  a  younger  branch  on  to  the  Orleans 
family;  and  if  he  had  succeeded,  against  all  prob- 
ability, in  getting  elected,  he  would  have  been 
obliged  to  accept  a  revolution,  which  had  condemned 
his  father's  policy  and  had  overthrown  his  throne. 
Yet  this  candidature  was  advanced  by  one  of  the 
great  organs  of  the  press  of  that  time,  perhaps  the 
greatest !  Was  it  not  necessary  to  put  order  in  such 
incoherency?" 

In  the  meantime,  the  Assembly  met  again,  and  the 
first  measure  brought  forward  by  the  President  and 
his  followers  was  the  repeal  of  the  electoral  law, 
which  was  based  on  a  restricted  suffrage,  and  the 
substitution  for  it  of  complete  universal  male 
suffrage.  A  long  and  violent  discussion  was  the 
result,  and  the  final  vote  showed  a  majority  of  three, 
out  of  seven  hundred,  against  the  measure.  Thus, 
Louis    Napoleon   was    the    champion    of   universal 

36 


THE  COUP  D'ETAT 

suffrage,  and  the  republican  party  its  opponent! 
But  the  mistakes  of  the  majority  did  not  stop  here. 
After  slapping  in  the  face  the  common  people,  they 
next  treated  the  President  ^'the  Elect  of  France" 
after  the  same  fashion.  A  resolution  was  introduced 
giving  the  Speaker  of  the  Assembly  the  command  of 
the  military  guard  which  watched  over  its  safety. 
This  would  have  been  the  last  straw  on  the  patient 
camel's  back!  But  it  was  not  carried,  and  the  coup 
d'etat,  which  would  have  been  the  President's 
answer  if  it  had  been  carried,  was  postponed  for  the 
moment.  "This  is  perhaps  the  best  course,"  was  all 
the  Prince-President  had  to  say  when  he  learned 
that  the  motion  was  lost. 

But  the  Elysee  was  now  more  than  ever  on  the 
alert.  It  was  evident  to  all  observing  on-lookers  that 
this  long  struggle  between  the  two  powers  could  not 
go  on  much  longer  in  this  revolutionary  fashion. 
While  the  different  groups  of  the  Assembly  were 
seeking  the  means  of  making  themselves  dictator, 
Prince  Louis  Napoleon  stood  ready,  everything  in 
hand,  waiting  only  to  decide  which  was  the  right 
day  for  action.  He  of  course  counted  for  success  on 
the  army,  and,  as  he  had  been  studying  the  army  for 
some  time,  felt  sure  of  its  aid.  Thus,  at  a  review 
during  the  summer  preceding  the  coup  d'etat,  held 
on  the  plateau  of  Satory  near  Versailles,  the  cavalry 
actually  disobeyed  orders  in  their  desire  to  acclaim 
the  Prince-President.  Since  his  advent  to  the  presi- 
dency, it  had  always  been  the  custom  of  the  soldiers, 
when  they  filed  past,  to  cry:  ''Long  live  Napoleon!" 
But  the  Assembly  had  directed  General  Changamier 
to  stop  this,  and  on  this  particular  occasion,  instruc- 
tions to  this  effect  had  been  given  to  the  general 

37 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

commanding  the  division  which  was  being  reviewed. 
The  infantry  obeyed  and  filed  past  in  silence.  But 
not  so  the  cavalry.  Swords  were  brandished  and  the 
President  was  saluted  with  enthusiastic  shouts.  The 
Prince  showed  himself  displeased  at  this  order,  and 
the  commanding  general  was  removed  and  sent  tc 
another  military  division.  This  act  naturally  ruffled 
General  Changarnier  and  the  coolness  between  him 
and  the  President  dated  from  this  incident.  ''It  was 
not  so  much  generals  whom  I  needed  at  this 
moment,"  said  the  Emperor;  ''I  wanted  the  support 
of  the  common  soldier.  So  Changarnier 's  defection 
was  not  a  serious  blow." 

At  this  period,  the  President  often  spent  much 
time  at  the  Castle  of  Saint  Cloud,  when  he  took 
frequent  horseback  rides  into  the  country  round 
about.  One  day  he  returned  smiling  and  related  this 
anecdote  to  the  officers  on  duty :  ' '  If  some  Burgrave 
(the  nickname  given  to  the  leaders  of  the  conserva- 
tive party  during  the  Second  Republic)  had  been 
with  me  to-day,  he  would  have  felt  considerable 
anxiety  over  the  political  future;  for,  while  I  was 
going  up  a  steep  lane  among  the  vineyards,  I  met  a 
workman,  evidently  a  chair-repairer.  I  was  moving 
my  horse  to  one  side  so  as  to  let  the  man  pass,  when 
he  put  down  his  burden  and  thus  addressed  me : 
'Please  wait  a  moment,  sir,  while  I  tell  you  some- 
thing. I  am  told  that  over  there  at  the  Assembly, 
the  deputies  don't  want  you.  But  we  do.  We  know 
that  you  like  us  workers.  Those  chaps  must  remem- 
ber that  we  elected  you,  and  they  should  be  given  to 
understand  that  on  the  first  sign  from  you,  our  arms 
and  our  chests  are  at  your  service. '  In  order  to  give 
emphasis  to  his  remarks,  he  brought  his  fist  down  on 

38 


THE  COUP  D'ETAT 

my  knee  with  considerable  force,  and  as  I  passed  on, 
he  called  out :  '  You  can  rely  on  us ! '  The  fact  is  that 
all  the  common  people  whom  I  meet,  stop  and  un- 
cover as  I  pass  by.  Those  good  Burgraves  are  much 
mistaken  if  they  imagine  that  they  can  fight  against 
me  with  success.  They  will  learn  this  one  of  these 
days  when  it  is  too  late." 

But  the  Prince  began  at  an  early  date  to  make 
himself  popular  with  the  lower  classes  of  France. 
The  Emperor  used  to  like  to  tell  of  a  little  episode 
which  happened  on  July  26,  1848,  during  the  truce 
which  General  Cavaignac  had  granted  the  insur- 
gents. ''I  was  moving  about  among  the  barricades 
in  the  Faubourg  Saint  Antoine,  accompanied  by  a 
friend,  when  the  women,  who  wanted  to  put  a  stop 
to  the  bloody  conflict,  thus  addressed  me :  '  Say,  you 
dandy  there,  with  the  light  colored  gloves  and  the 
cane,  instead  of  gadding  about  there  to  no  purpose, 
you  had  better  help  us  put  up  these  white  flags.' 
'You  are  quite  right,  my  good  woman,  I  have  come 
to  see  if  I  cannot  aid  in  reestablishing  order  and  so 
am  only  too  glad  to  help  you  in  your  efforts  for 
peace.  So  I  took  off  my  gloves  and  gave  them  with 
my  cane  to  my  friend.  Picking  up  a  fallen  flag,  I 
stuck  it  in  its  hole  again  and  steadied  it  with  three 
or  four  handfuls  of  sand.  I  then  put  on  my  gloves, 
took  back  my  cane  and  moved  on  amidst  the  laughter 
and  cheers  of  these  good  women." 

But  it  was  neither  the  Prince's  popularity  with 
the  common  people,  nor  the  hearty  support  of  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  army  that  assured  the  success 
of  the  coup  d'etat.  They  contributed  largely  there- 
to; but  what  gave  the  weary  President  the  courage 
to  undertake  it  and  what  carried  it  to  a  triumph  was 

39 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

the  presence  about  him  of  a  number  of  able,  bold  and 
devoted  friends.  Among  these  should  be  put  first, 
General  de  Saint  Arnaud,  and  the  careful  way  in 
which  the  Prince  went  to  work  to  win  him  over  to  his 
cause  well  illustrates  the  remarkable  manner  in 
wliich  the  coup  (Vet at  was  planned  and  carried  out. 
Major  Fleury,  of  the  Prince's  military  staff,  an 
officer  of  great  activity  and  very  devoted  to  his 
cause,  had  just  completed  fourteen  years  of  service 
in  Algeria,  where  he  knew  all  the  officers  who  could 
be  useful  to  the  Prince.  He  had  served  under  Gen- 
eral de  Saint  Arnaud,  whom  he  could  not  praise  too 
highly  to  the  Prince-President.  So  he  was  sent  to 
Africa  on  a  special  mission  whose  aim  was  to  bring- 
over  to  the  Prince  officers  in  the  African  army  who 
would  aid  in  carrying  out  the  plans  then  maturing 
at  the  Ely  see,  and  especially  to  see  if  Saint  Arnaud 's 
support  could  be  secured.  The  Major  suggested  that 
the  young  general  be  sent  on  an  expedition  against 
some  rebellious  tribes,  which  would  give  the  latter 
an  opportunity  to  distinguish  himself  and  the 
former  an  occasion  to  talk  with  him  about  the  cause 
which  the  future  Emperor  had  at  heart.  The  Major 
was  instructed  to  see  the  Minister  of  War,  General 
Randon,  who  readily  fell  in  with  the  proposition, 
adding:  ''Tell  the  Prince  that  when  Saint  Arnaud 
takes  my  place,  I  do  not  want  to  be  mixed  up  in  all 
the  events  that  are  sure  to  follow;  all  I  ask  is  to  be 
sent  back  to  Algeria  as  governor  general."  This 
was  quite  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  the 
Prince,  who,  not^\dthstanding  what  has  been  said  to 
the  contrary,  never  had  a  thought  of  asking  General 
Randon  to  play  a  part  in  the  coming  events.  So 
Major   Fleury  hastened   to   Africa;   the   Kabylian 

40 


THE  COUP  D'ETAT 

expedition  was  soon  under  way,  with  General  de 
Saint  Amaud  in  command,  and  the  Major  accom- 
panied him  as  being  on  a  special  mission  from  the 
President  to  follow  the  campaign.  He  was  cordially 
welcomed  by  the  General,  but  at  first  made  no 
mention  of  the  real  object  of  his  coming,  though  he 
did  refer  now  and  then  to  the  conflicts  between  the 
Executive  and  the  Assembly,  and  whenever  he  found 
a  good  opportunity  for  so  doing,  he  did  not  fail  to 
make  the  General  understand  that  the  Prince  was 
the  only  candidate  whom  the  conservatives  could 
oppose,  with  any  chance  of  success,  to  the  revolu- 
tionary parties,  and  that  the  only  remedy  for  the 
present  state  of  things  lay  in  the  army.  Major 
Fleury  would  bring  up  the  same  subject  at  table,  in 
order  to  see  how  Mme.  de  Saint  Arnaud  took  it.  At 
first,  she  caused  him  some  anxiety.  This  lady,  whose 
maiden  name  was  de  Trazegnies,  was  related  to  the 
Merodes  and  to  some  of  the  best  families  of  Bel- 
gium. She  seemed  to  lean  towards  the  royalists  and 
would  probably  not  exercise  much  influence  over  the 
General  in  the  direction  of  the  Bonapartists.  But 
in  the  end,  the  Major  saw  that  he  was  mistaken  on 
this  point.  Mme.  de  Saint  Arnaud,  who  was  very 
devoted  to  her  husband,  wished  to  share  the  honors 
which  she  felt  he  could  obtain,  and  soon  hints  be- 
came plain  words,  and  the  delighted  Major  was  soon 
convinced  that  the  wife  was  to  be  a  great  help  in  the 
work  in  hand.  ''You  may  count  on  me  aiding  you 
in  every  way  I  can,"  she  said  one  day,  and  arranged 
the  details  of  the  final  interview  between  the  Major 
and  the  General,  when  Saint  Arnaud  said  squarely : 
"Let  the  Prince  get  me  appointed  general  of  divi- 
sion, and  I  will  answer  for  the  rest.    But  we  will  have 

41 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

time  to  talk  over  all  this  at  our  leisure,  during  this 
expedition." 

In  Saint  Arnaud's  circle,  Fleury  met  gallant  offi- 
cers like  de  Place,  de  Sericourt,  de  Clermont-Ton- 
nerre,  Boyer,  and  de  Chavarrier  who  entered  heart- 
ily into  his  plans  and  all  remained  faithful  to  the 
future  Emperor  whom  they  served  usefully.  At 
Constantine,  Fleurj^  met  again  General  Bosquet 
whom  he  had  known  years  before.  "He  was  when  I 
first  knew  him,  just  out  of  the  Polytechnic  School," 
writes  General  Floury  in  some  manuscript  notes  on 
this  period  of  his  career,  ''and  was  a  close  friend  of 
Cavaignac  and  Lamoriciere.  He  was  believed  to 
hold  decided  republican  opinions;  but  as  he  was 
very  ambitious,  his  political  convictions  eventually 
were  pushed  into  the  background.  I  quickly  per- 
ceived this  state  of  his  mind,  and  if  my  overtures  to 
Saint  Arnaud  had  been  repelled,  I  intended  to  open 
up  the  business  with  Bosquet,  who,  from  what  I 
afterwards  learned,  would  have  been  only  too  glad 
to  cooperate  with  us.  In  fact,  he  was  evidently  dis- 
appointed that  he  had  not  been  taken  into  the  com- 
bination. He  did  not  hesitate  to  speak  of  the  politi- 
cal situation,  'which,'  he  said,  'could  be  cleared  up 
only  by  the  help  of  the  sword;'  and  he  was  quite 
willing  to  let  it  be  seen  that  he  considered  that 
sword  to  be  his  own." 

The  expedition  was  carried  out  rapidly,  and  at  the 
end  of  two  months  the  tribes  were  subdued  without 
any  very  great  loss  of  life.  During  all  this  time 
Fleury  did  not  leave  the  General's  side,  and  was 
thus  able  to  talk  with  him  constantly  about  the 
object  of  his  mission.  The  promises  already  given 
were  renewed,  and  Fleury  was  able  to  leave  for 

42 


THE  COUP  D'ETAT 

France  with  a  report  for  the  President  of  the  com- 
plete success  of  what  he  had  undertaken  to  perform. 
Thereupon,  the  Prince  immediately  congratulated 
the  General  on  the  brilliancy  of  his  expedition,  in- 
formed him  that  he  was  named  general  of  division 
and  that  he  would  soon  be  called  to  a  command  at 
Paris  worthy  of  his  high  rank  and  talent.  The  daily 
press  at  the  capital  had  been  full  of  references  to 
him  and  his  feats  in  Africa,  so  that  when  he  reached 
Paris,  his  coming  produced  a  real  sensation.  x\t  the 
reception  given  in  his  honour  at  the  Elysee,  he  was 
the  cynosure  of  all  eyes,  and  when  the  President 
took  him  to  the  theater,  he  attracted  more  attention 
than  the  play.  He  was  soon  given  the  War  portfolio, 
and  to  still  further  increase  his  prestige,  the  most 
famous  and  popular  generals  and  colonels  of  the 
African  army  were  recalled,  and  Canrobert, 
d 'Ablonville,  de  Lourmel,  Espinasse,  Marulaz,  Ren- 
ault and  other  dashing  officers  were  added  to  the 
group  of  devoted  men  surrounding  the  President. 
"I  then  felt  that  the  military  chiefs  could  at  length 
be  trusted  to  act  at  the  right  moment,"  said  the 
Emperor  in  his  review  of  this  period  of  his  public 
life. 

Turning  now  to  the  civilians  whom  the  Prince- 
President  had  drawn  around  him,  the  first  place 
belongs  to  Comte  de  Persigny,  who  had  long  been 
Prince  Louis  Napoleon's  confidential  friend  in  the 
dark  and  troubled  days  of  the  London  exile  and  the 
Boulogne  fiasco.  The  Emperor  has  well  described 
his  character  in  this  brief  sentence :  ' '  Persigny  was 
enthusiastic,  perhaps  even  fanatical,  somewhat 
erratic  at  times,  but,  unquestionably,  heartily  de- 
voted to  me  and  my  cause  from  the  start  to  the 

43 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

close  of  his  life;  frank  in  his  utterances  and  apt  to 
complain  if  his  advice  was  not  followed." 

Major  Fleury  and  de  Persigny  called  the  attention 
of  the  Prince  to  Comte  de  Llorny.  It  w^as  an  open 
secret  that  Morny  was  the  son  of  Queen  Hortense 
and  Comte  de  Flahaut.  Very  intelligent  and  full  of 
enterprise,  he  had  long  sought  some  outlet  for  his 
(energies.  He  had  tried  diplomacy  and  had  even  par- 
ticipated in  commercial  undertakings.  Politically, 
lie  was  at  this  moment  very  friendly  with  the 
Orleans  Princes  and  on  good  terms  with  their  chief 
fugleman,  M.  Guizot,  although  he  was  naturally  con- 
sidered to  have  Bonapartist  tendencies.  The  revolu- 
tion of  1848  had  ruined  him  financially  and  he  was 
hesitating  as  to  what  course  to  pursue,  when  the 
star  of  Louis  Napoleon  began  to  rise  on  the  horizon. 
In  the  course  of  the  year  1849  he  decided  to  enter 
into  closer  relations  with  the  Prince,  whom  he  then 
hardly  knew.  His  political  situation  and  his  posi- 
tion in  the  clubs  and  in  the  best  society  could  not  but 
be  very  useful  to  the  President.  Both  felt  and  saw 
this.  At  the  first  interview,  the  President  was  af- 
fectionate and  kind,  but  a  handshake  was  the  extent 
of  his  demonstrativeuess.  Morny  would  have  liked 
L«oraething  more,  but  the  President  was  not  yet  sure 
that  he  could  go  further,  especially  as  the  former 
committed  the  error  of  seeking  to  make  too  prom- 
inent the  nature  of  his  birth,  for,  it  should  be  re- 
membered, Louis  Napoleon  never  recognised  ]\Iorny 
as  his  half  brother,  though  the  latter  got  up  a  sort  of 
coat  of  arms  consisting  of  the  portrait  of  the  Queen 
and  de  Flahaut,  wdth  his  owm  arms  crossed  with  the 
hortensia,  a  hydrangea — which  he  later  suppressed, 
owing  to  an  indirect  remark  on  the  Empress'  part. 

44 


THE  COUP  D'ETAT 

Notwithstanding  all  this,  however,  the  two  brothers 
soon  understood  each  other  and  a  firm  "political  in- 
timacy" was  the  result  which  became  the  founda- 
tion of  an  alliance  to  which  both  remained  faithful 
until  their  death.  They  began  by  studying  each 
other  with  care. 

The  somewhat  reserved  character  of  the  Prince 
always  checked  hun  from  opening  his  heart  too 
freely.  While  listening  to  advice,  no  matter  whence 
it  came,  he  made  no  promises.  He  liked  to  "work 
out  the  averages,"  and  it  was  veiy  rarely  that  he 
was  entirely  influenced  by  one  person  alone.  He 
took  from  several  what  he  found  good,  or  useful,  or 
ingenious,  but  began  by  appropriating  to  himself  the 
ideas  which  pleased  him  in  others,  modifying  these 
ideas  according  to  his  own  tastes.  Morny,  finding 
himself  to  be  persona  grata  and  often  consulted, 
would  have  liked  from  the  first  to  take  the  direction 
of  the  enterprise  and  perhaps  dreamed  of  imposing 
his  own  will  on  that  of  the  Prince.  But  this  was 
impossible,  for  if  there  was  one  thing  that  Prince 
Louis  Napoleon  did  not  like,  it  was  appearing  to 
yield  to  pressure  of  any  kind.  It  was  always  dis- 
agreeable to  him  to  be  made  to  feel  that  the  per- 
sons whom  he  was  consulting  were  claiming  "au- 
thor's rights"  on  anything  they  might  suggest  to 
him.  But  Morny  was  a  first-class  politician  and 
he  knew  how  to  wait  when  waiting  was  necessar}'. 
He  fully  realized  tliat  by  trying  to  huriy  things 
and  being  too  forward  with  advice,  he  was  runnmg 
the  risk  of  compromising  his  new-born  influence. 
He  took  hints  from  those  surrounding  the  Prince, 
all  of  whom  wore  friendly  to  this  future  minister 
— from  Persigny,  Fleury,  Comte  Edgar  Ney,  and 

45 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

others,  and  thus  learnt  better  than  any  one  else 
what  the  Prince  was  in  reality,  and  by  what  tact- 
ful and  clever  means  his  confidence  could  be  won. 
This  plan  was  the  very  one  to  adopt,  and  the  Prince 
gradually  opened  out  to  him  as  he  had  never  done 
before  to  any  one;  and  Morny,  on  his  side,  also 
felt  the  charm  of  the  President's  manner,  and  ceased 
to  be  simply  the  wily  and  well-informed  politician 
and  became  the  intimate  friend  and  devoted  fol- 
lower. The  Prince  now  had  another  trump  card 
in  his  hand,  and  he  was  more  sure  than  ever  to  win 
in  the  important  game  which  was  about  to  open. 

The  parliamentarians  also  tried  to  play  their 
trump  card,  and  feeling  that  a  coup  d'etat  was  in 
the  wind,  they  invented  the  most  varied  combina- 
tions against  the  ''dangerous  Prince."  Through 
secret  channels,  the  Prince  learned  that  a  plot  was 
being  hatched  of  which  Thiers  was  the  soul  and 
Changarnier  the  military  instrument.  "They  want 
to  seize  me  and  shut  me  up  in  the  Vincennes  dun- 
geon," the  Prince  confided  at  the  time  to  Lord 
Malmesbury;  and  at  a  much  later  period  he  said 
to  the  Empress:  "In  this  crisis,  I  naturally  pre- 
ferred to  take  the  initiative,  and  instead  of  being 
put  upon  by  the  Assembly,  to  render  that  body 
powerless.  Much  of  the  talk  about  the  Coup  d'Etat 
of  1851  is  pure  idle  sentiment.  Governments  have 
always  employed  these  extreme  measures  after  hav- 
ing exhausted  all  others,  and  when  it  was  found 
that  conciliatory  methods  had  failed.  Nobody  has 
forgotten  the  violent  acts  of  the  Convention  and 
the  Directory,  the  stern  measures  of  the  allies  with 
Louis  XVIII  in  the  rear,  the  revolutions  of  1830 
and  of  1848,  and  the  proposal  of  the  Assembly  of 

46 


THE  COUP  D'ETAT 

the  Second  Eepnblic  to  hand  over  military  author- 
ity to  their  President.  Were  not  all  these  really 
attempts  at  coups  d'etat,  though  only  in  an  em- 
bryonic and  undeveloped  state?  When  the  ground 
is  cut  from  under  one's  feet,  one  is  apt  to  cry  out 
about  usurpation  and  the  suppression  of  liberty. 
But  this  is  just  what  they  were  all  trying  to  do. 
The  affair  of  1851  was  a  steeple-chase.  I  got  in 
first  and  the  others  didn't  get  in  at  all!  That  is  all 
the  difference  between  them  and  me.  Had  federal- 
ism triumphed  in  the  provinces  in  1793,  the  Con- 
vention would  have  been  called  a  criminal,  an  enemy 
of  individual  liberty,  employing  illicit  methods  to 
attain  power.  If  Charles  X  had  been  better  guard- 
ed and  armed  he  would  have  forced  the  country  to 
accept  the  famous  ordinances.  Would  he  then  have 
been  accused  of  fomenting  revolt  and  would  his 
ministers  have  been  shut  up  in  the  fortress  of  Ham? 
On  the  contrary,  would  not  the  blame  for  the  con- 
flict have  been  put  on  those  who  prepared  the  way 
for  and  stirred  up  the  insurrection — the  journal- 
ists of  the  National,  certain  ambitious  deputies,  and 
the  duke  of  Orleans  himself,  who,  pretending  not 
to  desire  honors,  waited  till  the  crov/n  had  been 
dashed  from  his  cousin's  head,  and  then  com- 
placently let  it  be  set  on  his  own?  If  on  September 
4  the  deputies  of  the  Left  had  met  with  some 
opposition  from  those  who  should  have  defended  the 
throne,  if  the  people  had  realized  the  infamy  of  the 
deed  committed  when  Catiline  was  at  our  gates,  may 
we  not  believe  that  these  victors  would  have  been 
called  rebels,  bad  citizens  and  traitors  to  their  coun- 
try? But  they  succeeded  in  their  effort  and  it  was 
the  Imperial  government,  beaten  by  numbers  and 

47 


MEMOIRS  OP  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

unlucky  circumstances,  by  the  desertion  of  those 
who  should  have  defended  it,  which  was  declared 
the  guilty  party.  Measured  by  this  rule,  the  act  of 
December  2  was  simply  a  natural  result  of  the  con- 
ditions of  the  hour. ' ' 

Nor  was  this  coup  d'etat  carried  to  success  so 
easily  as  some  historians  have  led  their  readers  to 
believe.  The  patience,  perseverance,  and  daring 
showm  by  the  Prince  well  illustrate  a  side  of  his 
character  for  which  he  has  not  always  been  given 
credit.  When  it  was  thought  that  all  was  ready  for 
action,  it  looked  for  a  moment — and  a  most  critical 
one  it  was — as  though  Saint  Amaud  was  to  fail 
the  President  and  his  supporters.  Here  is  the  ac- 
count of  this  episode  in  the  preliminaries  of  the 
coup  d'etat,  an  account  which  differs  in  some  re- 
spects from  that  generally  given.  In  fact,  some- 
times this  episode  is  not  mentioned  at  all,  and  yet 
it  looked  for  a  moment  as  though  the  whole  plan, 
so  carefully  drawTi  up,  and  so  long  delayed  in  ex- 
ecution, would  fall  through  because  of  this  very 
episode. 

September  17  was  the  date  originally  set  for  the 
accomplishment  of  this  great  and  pacific  event. 
After  having  formally  agreed  to  assume  the  re- 
sponsibility of  executing  the  task,  General  Saint 
Amaud  asked  for  a  few  days'  leave  of  absence  in 
order  to  visit  his  mother  near  Bordeaux.  He  prom- 
ised to  be  back  by  September  4,  on  which  date 
lie  was  to  call  on  the  President  at  the  Ely  see.  The 
General  was  back  on  the  day  agreed  upon,  but  in- 
stead of  going  to  the  Elysee  he  sent  the  President  a 
letter  in  which  he  asked  to  be  relieved  from  the 
promise  given  and  begging  him  not  to  count  upon 

48 


THE  COUP  D'ETAT 

him  any  longer.  The  anger  at  the  Elysee  was  nat- 
urally very  great.  Persigny  and  Morny  plainly 
showed  that  they  were  exasperated.  Fleury,  who 
had  invented  Saint  Arnaud,  was  very  much  upset. 
The  Prince,  who  was  the  most  affected  of  all  by 
this  blow,  let  his  disappointment  be  seen  the  least. 
*'I  was  so  sure  of  what  must  eventually  happen," 
he  said  much  later,  ''that  I  felt  that  it  was  simply 
the  postponement  of  the  inevitable ;  and  after  events 
showed  that  I  was  not  mistaken." 

"We  feared  now  that  everything  had  to  be  done 
over  again,"  says  one  of  the  actors  in  the  scene,  in 
private  papers;  "if,  in  fact,  the  whole  scheme  were 
not  seriously  compromised.  Indiscretions  must 
have  been  committed  and  all  was  probably  lost. 
Though  the  Assembly  was  not  sitting  at  this  mo- 
ment, it  was  represented  by  the  Permanent  Commit- 
tee, which  was  completely  dominated  by  General 
Changarnier,  who  might  from  one  moment  to  an- 
other learn  everything.  We  all  asked  one  another 
what  was  going  to  happen.  Carlier,  the  head  of 
the  Paris  police,  came  to  the  Elysee,  and  spoke  with 
so  much  caution  that  it  was  evident  he  had  aban- 
doned the  project.  General  Magnan,  who  com- 
manded the  army  in  Paris,  vacillated  and  declared 
that  without  Saint  Arnaud 's  aid,  he  could  not  act. 
To  calm  suspicions,  the  Prince  went  the  same  eve- 
ning to  the  French  Theater,  accompanied  by  de  Per- 
signy and  Major  Fleury.  He  was,  of  course,  much 
moved  inwardly,  but  kept  a  calm  exterior,  which  did 
not  prevent  him,  during  the  intermissions,  from  giv- 
ing veiy  forcible  expression  to  what  was  on  his 
mind.  He  was  very  severe  on  Saint  Arnaud,  and 
Avith  reason;  but  not  so  severe  as  his  suite. 

49 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

"  'It's  a  treason,'  exclaimed  Persigny. 

''  'Since  they  abandon  me,'  added  the  Prince,  'I 
will  do  without  generals,  get  on  horseback  and  alone 
advance  to  meet  the  troops.' 

"  'No,  that  will  never  do,'  said  one  of  those  in 
the  box;  'though  you  unquestionably  enjoy  great 
personal  popularity,  and  your  name  counts  for 
much,  you  must  bear  m  mind  that  you  are  not  your 
uncle  nor  in  the  same  situation  as  he  was.' 

"  'There  are  two  things  to  do,'  said  another: 
'hand  over  the  War  Office  to  General  Baraguay 
d'HiUiers,  and  send  for  General  de  Castellane  and 
put  him  in  command  of  the  troops  of  Paris.  Both 
these  officers  are  very  friendly  to  you.  If  they  de- 
cline your  offers,  then  you  should  return  to  Saint 
Cloud,  act  as  though  nothing  had  happened,  and 
wait  for  a  more  favorable  occasion.' 

"Both  of  these  Generals  did  hold  back,  giving 
good  and  sufficient  reasons,  and  the  disappointed 
President  determined  to  retire  to  Saint  Cloud  on 
September  15,  But  before  that  date,  he  requested 
Major  Fleury  to  go  to  General  Saint  Arnaud  and 
have  a  frank  talk  with  him. 

"  'I  think  it  a  mistake,'  argued  the  President  very 
wisely,  'to  leave  Saint  Arnaud  alone,  as  if  we  had 
broken  with  him,  for  some  of  his  fellow  officers, 
like  Leflo,  Cavaignac,  or  Bedeau  who  are  hostile  to 
me,  may  draw  him  over  to  their  side.  They  would, 
of  course,  like  nothing  better  than  to  accomplish 
this.' 

"A  few  minutes'  conversation  with  Saint  Arnaud 
dissipated  all  these  fears. 

"  'What  I  meant,'  he  said,  'by  asking  the  Prince 
to  release  me  from  my  promise  was  this.     In  my 

50 


THE  COUP  D'ETAT 

opinion,  the  time  has  not  yet  come  for  action.  The 
Assembly  is  in  vacation,  the  country  quiet,  and  if 
we  move  now,  I  much  fear  there  will  be  resistance 
in  all  the  Departments  of  France.' 

"  'The  Permanent  Committee  is  on  the  watch,  a 
coup  d'etat  is  in  the  air,'  replied  Major  Fleury,  'and 
it  will  not  be  so  easy  to  act  with  energy  when  the 
Assembly  is  reconvened.' 

"  'That  is  not  my  opinion,'  was  the  short  reply. 
The  General  went  on  and  admitted  that,  during  his 
visit  to  Bordeaux,  Mme.  de  Saint  Arnaud  had 
pointed  out  to  him  many  dangers,  and  he  closed 
the  interview  with  these  words:  'Tell  the  Presi- 
dent that  my  ideas  have  in  no  wise  changed  in  re- 
gard to  the  necessity  of  a  coup  d'etat,  nor  have  my 
feelings  for  him  undergone  any  modification.  We 
differ  only  as  to  the  moment  when  we  should  act. 
When  you  ask  some  one  to  throw  himself  from  a 
house  top,  you  must  let  him  choose  how  and  when 
he  is  to  accomplish  that  risky  feat.'  " 

This  conversation  was  immediately  repeated  at 
the  Elysee,  and  a  few  hours  later,  the  General  and 
the  President  were  in  the  midst  of  an  affectionate 
interview,  which  ended  by  the  promise  that  Saint 
Arnaud  should  be  put  at  the  head  of  the  War 
Office  and  that  he  should  not  fail  when  the  time 
came  for  the  coup  d'etat.  Then  the  Prince-Presi- 
dent retired  to  Saint  Cloud,  where  he  received  many 
political  friends,  and  where  he  also  busied  himself 
with  improvements  in  the  castle  and  the  surround- 
ing park.  The  calm  face  of  the  Prince  showed  no 
trace  of  the  anxiety  of  the  past  few  days.  It  was 
a  remarkable  example  of  his  wonderful  self-control, 
and  this  trait  of  his  character  did  more  than  any- 

51 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

thing  else  to  prepare  the  preliminaries  of  the  coup 
d'etat  and  to  carry  it  to  a  success,  when  the  final 
moment  came  for  action. 

We  always  considered  the  five  principal  actors  in 
bringing  about  the  Coup  d'Etat  to  be  Momy,  Per- 
signy,  Maupas,  Fleuiy  and  Saint  Aniaud.  As 
everybody  knows  there  was  a  reception  at  the  Ely- 
see  on  the  evening  of  December  1st,  but  everybody 
did  not  know  then  or  since  that  the  Prince-President 
was  far  more  nervous  than  many  of  his  guests  have 
since  imagined.  He,  of  course,  treated  his  many 
\'isitors  with  marked  kindness  and  affability.  This 
outward  manner  of  Napoleon  has  often  been  re- 
marked upon.  But  ho  had  to  make  a  great  effort  to 
hide  his  concern.  In  fact,  this  effort  tried  him  more 
than  the  vigorous  actions  which  soon  followed.  "In- 
activity has  always  wearied  me  more  than  activity," 
he  used  to  say  very  truthfully.  This  fact  I  have 
often  seen  illustrated  in  his  career. 

After  the  giiests  loft,  the  Prince  held  the  final  con- 
ference with  his  friends  before  the  orders  were 
given  to  "go  ahead."  At  this  conference  the  Prince 
did  not  take  the  loading  part,  as  is  often  asserted. 
His  rule  of  life  was  never  to  march  swifter  than 
events.  He  had  long  felt  that  a  coup  d'etat  was 
coming.  "But  all  I  had  to  do  was  to  sit  still  and  let 
it  come,"  he  would  say  afterwards;  "or  at  least,  I 
saw  that  it  was  best  for  me  not  to  try  and  hasten 
the  fatal  hour."  So  at  this  final  conference,  he  was 
the  most  silent  of  the  circle.  When  he  perceived 
by  the  language  of  his  friends  that  they  were  ready 
to  act  and  believed  that  the  moment  had  come  to 
act,  "then  I  was  sure  that  the  coup  d'etat  was 
made,"  the  Emperor  has  said. 

52 


THE  COUP  D'ETAT 

On  the  morning  of  December  2nd,  when  Prince 
Napoleon  was  informed  of  the  state  of  things,  he 
sallied  forth,  from  his  house  in  the  Rue  d 'Alger, 
with,  his  neighbor  M.  Gavini,  ''furious  at  what  my 
cousin  has  done,"  as  he  expressed  it  to  all  those 
whom  he  met.  The  violent  diatribes  and  insulting 
epithets  which  he  indulged  in  could  not  be  too  vio- 
lent nor  too  insulting.  In  this  disposition,  more  or 
less  modified  at  times,  this  able  but  ill-balanced 
member  of  the  Bonaparte  family  remained  through- 
out the  duration  of  the  Second  Empire.  His  was 
a  curious  mind.  He  might  have  been  of  so  much 
aid  to  the  future  Emperor,  for  his  talents  were  of 
the  first  order.  "His  remarkable  facial  resemblance 
to  the  great  Napoleon  alone  was  a  host  in  itself," 
a  certain  leading  deputy  once  truly  remarked  to  me. 
"Yes,"  added  the  Emperor,  when  I  repeated  this 
to  him,  "but  my  good  cousin  generally  spoils  this 
facial  resemblance  by  'making  faces'!" 

Very  different  was  the  conduct  of  Prince  Napo- 
leon's father,  the  aged  ex-king  Jerome.  As  soon  as 
he  heard,  at  the  Invalides,  of  what  had  occurred, 
he  put  on  his  uniform  and  rode  to  the  Elysee,  where 
he  was  Avarmly  welcomed  by  his  nephew.  At  ten 
o'clock,  Prince  Louis,  ^nth  Jerome  on  ]iis  loft,  fol- 
lowed by  a  Tiumorous  staff,  rode  out  from  the  Ely- 
see  and  presented  Irmself  before  the  troops,  who 
received  liim  entbu-instically.  "I  always  felt  pe- 
cnliarly  grateful  to  in}-  distinguished  uncle  for  this 
immediate  aud  timely  support,  especially  at  a  mo- 
ment when  it  was  impossible  to  tell  just  wliat  would 
1)0  the  final  result  of  my  act.  He  might  have  sacri- 
ficed his  life  to  my  ca^use.  But  he  did  not  hesitate, 
and  a  true  Napoleon,  but  political  considerations  be- 

53 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

fore  those  of  a  personal  nature.  In  a  word,  King 
Jerome  now  did  all  that  lay  in  his  power  to  aid  me 
to  restore  the  empire.  When  he  died  eight  years 
later,  it  was  one  of  the  hardest  blows  I  ever  received. 
I  felt  that  the  last  connection  between  me  and  the 
great  Emperor  had  disappeared.  From  that  mo- 
ment, I  experienced  a  moral  weakness  that  some- 
times must  have  affected  my  conduct  of  affairs ;  for 
it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  I  always  sought  in- 
spiration in  the  thoughts,  deeds  and  acts  of  the  First 
Empire  and  its  mighty  head.  His  death  had  been 
expected  for  some  time,  as  he  had  been  ailing  for 
months.  But  his  passing  away  made  a  great  impres- 
sion, for  he  had  again  become  popular.  With  the 
advent  of  the  Second  Empire,  I  showetred  upon 
him  all  the  honors  in  my  power.  I  went  often  to 
his  receptions  in  the  Palais  Royal,  where  he  held 
an  elegant  and  very  correct  little  court.  The  Em- 
press, too,  liked  his  company,  for  his  conversation 
was  most  interesting,  as  he  had  seen  much  during 
his  eventful  life." 

What  the  Emperor  says  about  her  enoying  the 
society  of  the  aged  king  is  quite  true.  He  was  flat- 
tered by  the  attentions  of  the  Emperor,  who  used 
to  say:  ''My  uncle,  who  has  a  great  deal  of  com- 
mon sense,"  or  "My  uncle,  whose  wide  experience," 
etc.  These  phrases  were  often  repeated  to  him  and 
could  not  but  please  him.  The  Empress  trusted  the 
father  as  much  as  she  distrusted  the  son.  The  fact 
is — and  I  have  touched  on  this  elsewhere  in  these 
volumes — the  latter  had  a  very  bad  temper  and  was 
reckless  in  regard  to  what  he  said  on  political  or 
religious  subjects.  He  was  always  very  aggressive 
and  more  than  once  showed  real  hostility  towards 

54 


THE  COUP  D'ETAT 

Eugenie,  being  sorely  vexed  that  he  was  no  longer 
heir  to  the  throne.  Again,  ho  loved  to  appear  "ad- 
vanced. ' ' 

By  the  way,  many  untrue  statements  have  been 
made  concerning  the  Empress'  relations  with 
King  Jerome.  Some  chroniclers  have  said  that, 
not  satisfied  with  the  presidency  of  the  Senate,  the 
governorship  of  the  Hotel  des  Invalides  and  a  large 
pension,  he  had  a  grudge  against  the  Emperor  for 
not  giving  him  a  large  place  in  the  government, 
and  especially  for  not  making  him  regent  when  the 
Emperor  made  his  temporary  absences  from 
France.  It  has  been,  furthermore,  declared  that  he 
was  particularly  disappointed  that  the  regency  was 
entrusted  to  the  Empress  during  the  Italian  cam- 
paign and  that  he  openly  manifested  his  displeas- 
ure; that  this  displeasure  increased  when  he  per- 
ceived that  "his  suggestions  were  not  listened  to," 
and  that  "his  nephew  had  advised  his  wife  and  her 
ministers  to  take  no  notice  of  his  uncle's  advice.'' 
Needless  to  say  that  all  this  is  absolutely  false. 
This  idle  gossip  is  dissipated  by  a  letter  written  by 
the  king  to  his  nephew,  dated  May  16,  1859,  which 
I  do  not  give  here  as  it  was  long  ago  made  public. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  Empress  always  had  the 
pleasantest  relations  with  King  Jerome,  who  never 
was  heard  to  complain  of  the  Emperor  or  to  any  one 
concerning  the  fashion  in  which  he  was  treated  by 
the  Emperor,  by  the  Empress  or  by  the  government, 
for  the  very  good  reason  that  they  all  honored  him, 
not  only  for  his  own  merits  but  as  the  brother  of 
the  groat  Emperor  and  as  the  only  remaining  di- 
rect link  betwen  the  two  empires. 

55 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

The  Emperor  has  left  this  memorandum  concern- 
ing the  Coup  d'Etat : 

''My  enemies  declared  that  they  'would  get  rid' 
of  me  at  the  very  moment  I  was  getting  rid  of  them! 
They  imagined  that  the  common  people  were  on 
their  side,  and  when  some  of  the  leaders  were  on 
the  way  to  prison,  they  hoped  to  stir  up  sympathy 
by  addressing  themselves  to  'the  man  in  the  street.' 
But  they  found  this  man  very  indiiferent.  I  felt 
sure  that  such  would  be  the  case.  However,  they 
thought  they  knew  better  than  I.  But  events  showed 
that  I  was  better  informed  than  they  about  the  real 
feelings  of  the  French  nation  concerning  the  de- 
testable regime  which  I  overturned  with  the  ap- 
proval of  all  sensible  citizens. 

"On  December  2nd  the  workingmen  of  the  Fau- 
bourg Saint  Antoine  were  beginning  to  start  for 
their  shops,  w^hen  the  event  became  known.  They 
showed  a  little  curiosity  when  they  saw  some  of  the 
political  prisoners  going  by.  But  that  was  all. 
There  was  no  attempt  at  rescue,  as  some  of  these 
more  sanguine  prisoners  thought  would  be  the  case. 
The  fact  is  that  the  Assembly  had  become  very  un- 
popular. The  momentary  coalition  between  the 
deputies  of  the  Right  and  the  republicans  against 
me  could  deceive  no  one.  They  wished  to  overthrow 
me  and  were  openly  plotting  against  me.  'He  will 
not  dare,'  they  said.  But  I  acted  first.  They  held 
that  nobody  would  be  bold  enough  to  give  orders 
against  the  Assembly  and  that  if  such  orders  were 
given,  the  soldiers  would  not  obey  them.  Here  again 
lliey  were  woefully  mistaken.  The  facts  show^ed 
that  there  was  no  disobedience  among  the  rank  and 
lile.     My  friends   among  the   officers   who   carried 

56 


THE  COUP  D'ETAT 

through  the  Coup  d'Etat  met  obedience  practically 
everywhere.  My  foes  had  asserted  that  the  whole 
population  of  Prance  would  rise  up  as  one  man  to 
defend  the  constitution.  But  when  the  time  came 
to  rise,  the  ^patriots'  numbered  a  baker's  dozen. 

''It  is  true  that  the  population  of  Paris  did  not 
all  read  my  proclamations  in  the  same  spirit.  The 
lower  classes  and  the  upper  classes  did  not  in  every 
instance  take  a  similar  view  of  events.  The  larger 
body  of  the  working  people  regarded  my  proclama- 
tions as  a  reestablishment  of  universal  suffrage, 
the  fall  of  the  royalist  majority  in  the  Assembly 
and  the  maintenance  of  the  republic.  The  phrase 
'violated  legality,'  which  was  later  bandied  about 
by  certain  leaders  of  all  parties,  they  really  cared 
very  little  about.  They  were  looked  upon  as  enemies 
by  the  great  majority  of  the  Assembly;  they  were 
for  the  most  part  deprived  of  their  electoral  rights ; 
they  saw  their  wishes  and  ideas  constantly  opposed 
by  the  Right;  they  believed  that  this  same  Right 
was  plotting  for  a  monarchical  restoration,  in  which 
view  they  were  not  far  from  seeing  clearly,  and  they 
consequently  were  indifferent,  to  say  the  least,  when 
they  perceived  that  I  had  clipped  the  wings  of  this 
thi'eatening  majority.  Furthermore,  the  people  of 
Paris  nourished  feelings  of  resentment  against  the 
middle  classes  w^lio  had  been  pitiless  towards  them, 
and  they  could  see  no  necessity  to  worry  very  nmch 
about  what  seemed  to  them  essentially  a  quarrel 
between  me  and  'those  heartless  middle  classes.' 
Their  general  opinion  was  well  summed  up  in  the 
short  phrase  of  the  Deputy  Lagrange,  who  exclaim- 
ed on  December  2nd:  'That's  well  played!'  The 
arrest  in  the  morning  hours  of  Thiers,  Cliangarnier, 

57 


,      MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

Cavaignac,  Lamoriciore,  and  others,  whom  the  lower 
classes  looked  upon  as  their  enemies,  confirmed  the 
people  in  this  view,  though  their  belief  was  some- 
what shaken,  it  must  be  admitted,  later  in  the  day, 
when  it  was  found  necessary,  for  the  success  of 
the  new  regime,  to  seize  several  of  the  advanced  re- 
publicans also. 

'^The  so-called  'republican  bourgeoisie'  violently 
protested  against  mj-  act.  The  conserv^ative  bour- 
geoisie, on  the  contrary,  found  in  the  Coup  d'Etat 
a  guarantee  of  governmental  security  and  were  not 
displeased  with  what  had  happened.  But  the  'lib- 
eral party,'  which  pretended  to  look  upon  the  name 
republic  as  a  guarantee  of  political  liberty,  feared 
a  dictatorship  in  other  hands  than  their  own.  In 
a  word,  the  whole  situation  was  very  confused,  and 
if  I  acted  as  I  did,  it  was  because  something  had 
to  be  done,  and  I  did  what  seemed  the  best  for  the 
distracted  country.  It  is  very  easy  now  for  some 
persons  to  blame  my  course.  But  if  I  had  left  the 
initiative  to  one  of  the  other  parties,  what  proof 
is  there  that  they  would  have  done  as  much  for  the 
nation  as  I  did?    None!" 


CHAPTER  III 


PEINCESS    MATHILDE 


In  a  preceding  chapter  brief  mention  has  been 
made  of  Princess  Mathilde,  but  I  propose  in  this 
chapter  to  devote  more  attention  to  this  remarkable 
woman,  especially  as  a  part  of  the  success  attend- 
ing the  Coup  d'Etat  was  due,  at  least  indirectly,  to 
her.  Nor  did  her  good  auspices  cease  with  the  ad- 
vent of  the  new  regime.  She  continued  to  be 
throughout  the  Second  Empire  and  down  to  the  very 
day  of  her  death  a  pillar  of  strength  to  Bonapar- 
tism,  and  if  some  of  the  male  members  of  the  Bona- 
parte family  had  possessed  the  abilities  and  good 
sense  of  Princess  Mathilde,  the  history  of  the  house 
would  not  have  been  marked  by  several  incidents  of 
a  more  or  loss  regrettable  character. 

The  Emperor's  cousin  exercised  considerable  in- 
fluence over  the  world  of  letters  and  of  arts,  not 
only  in  Paris,  but  far  beyond  its  walls.  During  the 
Empire  and  till  her  death  in  January,  1904,  at  the 
advanced  ago  of  eighty-four  years,  she  held  a  most 
brilliant  salon,  first  in  the  Rue  de  Courcelles  and 
later  in  lier  fine  mansion  in  the  Rue  de  Berri,  whore 
is  now  the  Belgian  Legation,  which  Avas  frequented 
by  celebrities  of  all  sorts  and  from  which  political 
discussion  was  severely  banished,  at  least  during 
the  Third  Republic. 

Princess  Mathilde 's  father,   King  Jerome  Napo- 

50 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

Icon,  was  the  great  Emperor's  brother  and  reigned 
for  a  short  time  in  Westphalia,  during  the  First 
Empire.  When  the  Prince-President  reached  the 
throne,  and  earlier,  at  the  moment  of  the  Coup 
d'Etat,  as  was  seen  in  the  last  chapter,  Jerome  sup- 
ported his  nephew  in  every  way  possible,  both  by  the 
prestige  of  his  name  and  by  his  resemblance  to  Na- 
poleon I.  He  even  bravely  walked  the  boulevards 
by  his  side.  The  Emperor  was  touched  by  this  gen- 
erous conduct  and  promoted  him  tirst  to  the  rank 
of  Marshal  of  France  and  afterwards  made  him 
Governor  of  the  Invalides.  The  ex-king,  in  turn, 
w^as  \ye\\  pleased  with  these  honors  and  was  always 
careful  to  do  nothing  to  embarrass  the  Emperor's 
rule;  so  when  he  died  in  1860,  liis  funeral  was  a 
most  magnificent  state  pageant,  which  made  a  deep 
impression  on  every  one  at  the  court.  Napoleon 
III  liked  to  speak  of  King  Jerome.  ''He  brings  me 
so  near  to  the  great  Emperor,"  he  used  to  say,  "not 
simply  by  his  features,  but  in  many  other  mental 
and  physical  things.  I  cannot  forget  his  gallant 
conduct  at  Waterloo,  nor  the  way  he  came  to  my 
support  during  the  early  years,  when  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Bonaparte  family  did  not  always  imi- 
tate him  in  this  respect." 

Prince  Napoleon,  his  son,  and  consequently  the 
brother  of  Princess  Mathilde,  also  had  the  Napo- 
leonic features  to  a  very  marked  degree;  but  he 
adopted  a  far  different  attitude  towards  the  new 
Emperor.  He  Avas  always  hostile  to  his  cousin. 
Neither  coaxing,  nor  proofs  of  confidence,  nor 
honors  could  entirely  overcome  his  independent 
ideas,  his  love  of  criticizing,  a  prou'^ness  to  petty 
conspiracy,  or  the  pleasure  he  took  in  grouping 

CO 


PRINCESS  MATHILDE 

around  him  men  who  were  for  the  most  part  un- 
friendly to  the  Second  Empire.  He  frequently  dis- 
played towards  the  Empress  a  rather  disagreeable 
manner,  her  great  offense  in  his  eyes  being  that  of 
having  given  an  heir  to  the  throne — the  birth  of 
the  Prince  Imperial  leaving  him  no  longer  the  heir 
apparent.  He  sometimes  carried  this  spirit  so  far 
that  at  one  of  Eugenie 's  birthday  parties  he  actually 
refused  to  propose  her  health,  as  the  Emperor  de- 
sired him  to  do.  But  his  loudly  proclaimed  anti- 
religious  convictions  would  of  necessity  have  raised 
a  barrier  between  them,  even  if  he  had  not  chosen 
to  seek  other  grounds  of  dissension. 

Princess  Mathilde's  mother  was  Queen  Catherine, 
born  Princess  of  "VViirtemberg,  a  truly  admirable 
woman,  who  was  worthy  of  every  praise.  Her  hus- 
band used  to  say  that  during  twenty  years  he  had 
tried  to  discover  some  fault  in  her,  but  without  suc- 
cess. She  loved  him  passionately,  and  showed  great 
indulgence  towards  his  imputed  gallant  escapades 
during  their  stay  in  Westphalia.  In  1814,  her  father 
having  asked  her  to  abandon  her  husband  in  his 
misfortune,  she  absolutely  refused  to  do  so  in  an 
admirable  letter  addressed  to  the  king  of  Wiirtem- 
berg.  The  latter  was  much  incensed  at  this,  and  for 
a  time  imprisoned  his  son-in-law  and  daughter  in 
the  castle  of  Elvangen.  A  year  later,  they  were  sent 
out  of  the  country,  and  then  commenced  for  them 
a  long  series  of  temporary  sojourns  in  different 
places. 

Princess  Mathildc  received  a  good  education,  first 
from  her  mother,  and  then  from  Baroness  Reding, 
who  remained  with  her  till  her  death.  At  an  early 
age  she  showed  intellectual  parts  and  a  pronounced 

61 


MEMOIKS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

taste  for  the  arts  and  letters.  When  she  was  six- 
teen, she  was  considered  very  handsome,  and 
already  quite  a  woman,  physically  and  mentally. 
Xapoleon  once  said  of  her  outward  appearance: 
' '  Mathilde  possessed  the  somewhat  ample  beauty 
of  the  Bonapartes,  while  around  her  she  spread  a 
certain  charm  that  won  all  hearts." 

On  one  or  two  occasions,  after  their  marriage,  the 
iOmperor  spoke  with  the  Empress  quite  frankly  of 
his  early  love  for  his  cousin.  One  day,  especially, 
he  said:  "Tlie  union  would  have  been  looked  on 
with  favor  b}^  Queen  Ilortense.  But  the  Strasbourg 
fiasco  spoiled  everything.  Having  failed  in  that  ef- 
fort, I  was  much  ridiculed  by  my  family,  and  all 
idea  of  a  vredding,  even  at  some  distant  day,  was 
abandoned.  During  my  exile  in  America,  I  quite 
forgot  the  matter,  though  I  did  return  to  it  for  a 
moment  in  1851.  How  lucky  I  was,"  he  would  add 
with  a  smile,  "that  it  fell  through.  Furthermore, 
I  was  always  opposed,  in  principle,  to  marriage  be- 
tween cousins." 

Princess  Mathilde  was,  at  the  last  date  mentioned 
above,  separated  from  her  husband,  Count  Anatole 
Demidoff,  Prince  of  San  Donato,  v/itli  Vvdiom  she 
had  been  unable  to  live  happily.  The  Em])eror 
Nicolas  I  approved  of  iiis  cousin's  course,  and  had 
decided  the  Count,  who  was  very  wealtiiy,  to  settle 
upon  the  Princess  a  considerable  allowance,  though 
she  had  taken  her  maiden  name  again  and  lived 
quite  independently  of  her  husband.  As  divorce 
was  then  unlaAvful,  it  would  have  been  a  great  un- 
dertaking to  have  the  marriago  annulled  religiously 
arid  civilly,  so  the  two  parties  simply  lived  apart. 
The  Princess,  now  enjoying  a  considerable  fortune, 

^  62 


PRINCESS  MATHILDE 

surrounded  iierself  with  a  number  of  intelligent 
people  wliose  company  pleased  her.  Her  one  idea 
was  to  continue  to  be  full  mistress  of  her  actions 
and  of  her  heart,  and  she  was  never  disposed  to 
entertain  even  for  a  moment  the  idea  of  marrying 
again.  She  always  remained,  however,  a  faithful 
friend  of  the  Prince-President,  and  opened  her 
salon  wide  to  the  men  of  political  promise  whom 
he  desired  to  l)ring-  there.  Ikit  she  gently  declined 
his  hand  as,  in  fact,  she  had  done  that  of  the  young 
(Jomte  de  Chambord.  At  one  moment  there  was 
some  talk  of  a  marriage  between  her  and  the  Due 
d 'Orleans,  a  suggestion  made  by  Jules  Janin,  the 
celebrated  critic,  to  M.  Guizot,  whicli  led  the  Prin- 
cess to  say  on  one  occasion:  "I  might  iiave  mar- 
ried the  three  pretenders  I"  But  she  preferred  her 
artistic  home  in  the  Ivue  de  Berri  to  the  uncertain 
glory  of  a  French  throne ;  and,  by  so  deciding,  she 
showed  superior  intelligence,  and  true  philosophical 
wisdom. 

Tlie  Princess  herself  used  to  relate  this  story  of 
the  Due  d 'Orleans  affair.  I  have  heard  it  also  from 
Jules  Janin.  It  appears  that  he  really  went  to  see 
M.  Guizot  in  1837,  when  there  was  talk  of  marrj'ing 
the  eldest  son  of  Louis  Philippe,  and  called  the  min- 
ister's attention  to  the  fact  that  Princess  Mathilde 
was  very  handsome,  that  her  family  connections 
were  irreproachable,  and  that  the  name  of  Bona- 
parte was  worth  that  of  many  others.  Tlie  Kiug, 
whom  Guizot  saw  in  the  matter,  listened  to  all  these 
arguments  and  then  SMid  quietly:  "But  she  has  no 
dowry!"  In  vain  M.  Guizot  assured  him  that  the 
rihambcrs  would  willingly  vote  her  an  allowance, 
but  he  would  hear  no  moi'e  on  the  subject.     Later, 

63 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

in  1870,  when  Jules  Janin,  who  had  just  been  elected 
to  the  Academy,  spoke  of  the  matter  again  with 
M.  Guizot,  who  had  now  become  his  colleague,  both 
agreed,  I  am  told,  that  their  plan  for  uniting  "the 
two  families  of  pretenders,"  as  Guizot  said,  would 
have  been  admirable  if  it  could  have  been  carried 
through. 

Princess  Mathilde,  therefore,  married  none  of 
the  princes  of  France,  but  contented  herself,  as  has 
just  been  said,  with  an  enormously  rich  Russian, 
with  whom  she  lived  for  some  time  in  Italy.  When 
King  Jerome's  branch  of  the  Bonaparte  family  was 
allowed  to  return  to  France,  on  the  advent  of  the 
Orleans  Monarchy,  the  Princess  came  occasionally 
to  Paris,  but  she  always  declined  to  show  herself 
at  the  Tuileries,  though  she  knew  the  young  Princes 
of  Orleans  and  always  felt  kindly  towards  them. 
When,  after  the  fall  of  that  regime,  the  decree  of 
1852  was  promulgated,  by  which  the  State  con- 
fiscated a  part  of  the  property  which  Louis  Philippe 
had  settled  on  his  children.  Princess  Mathilde,  gen- 
erously forgetting  that  her  own  family  had  suffered 
similar  treatment  in  1815  at  the  hands  of  the  elder 
branch  of  the  Bourbons,  took  sides  with  the  moder- 
ate parties  who  considered  that  it  was  unjust  and 
unnecessary  to  reopen  this  question,  and  publicly 
supported  the  Princes  of  Orleans  in  their  efforts  to 
keep  their  possessions. 

Princess  Mathilde  did  not  see  the  Orleans  Princes 
again  until  the  fall  of  tlie  Empire,  and  she  renewed 
her  acquaintance  with  the  Due  d'Aumale  only  after 
the  death  of  Prince  Napoleon,  in  1891,  at  which  time 
there  was  quite  an  exchange  of  courtesies  and  marks 
of    friendliness    between    those    two    distinguished 

64 


PRINCESS  MATHILDE 

members  of  French  royalty.  She  lunched  at  Chan- 
tilly  with  the  Prince,  who  in  his  turn  visited  the 
mansion  in  the  Rue  de  Berri,  and  was  present  there 
at  a  dinner  given  in  his  honor,  where  he  met  numer- 
ous men  of  letters  and  artists,  a  class  of  society 
which  both  the  Princess  and  the  Due  were  always 
fond  of  patronizing  and  with  whom  they  delighted 
in  associating. 

Exile,  or  the  overthrow  of  parties,  often  bring 
about  such  reconciliations  between  persons  who  have 
long  been  separated  by  political  differences.  Let 
me  give  an  example  of  this  which  always  awakens 
in  me  most  pleasant  recollections.  Thus,  shortly  be- 
fore the  death  of  the  Due  d'Aumale,  the  Empress 
Eugenie  was  traveling  in  Sicily,  accompanied  by  the 
Prince  and  Princesse  d'Essling,  w^hen  they  hap- 
pened to  pass  near  the  Due  d'Aumale 's  Italian  es- 
tate, Zucco.  When  the  Due  heard  that  the  Empress 
was  in  the  neighborhood,  he  crossed  to  her  yacht 
in  order  to  pay  his  respects.  The  meeting  was  very 
cordial.  The  Due  d'Aumale  was  accompanied  on 
this  occasion  by  the  Due  d 'Orleans.  In  the  after- 
noon they  had  a  long  and  delightful  drive  in  this 
beautiful  part  of  Italy,  and  I  do  not  exaggerate 
when  I  state  that  the  conversation  charmed  the 
Empress  as  much  as  the  scenery. 

Princess  Mathilde  was  very  glad  to  meet  again 
the  Due  d'Aumale.  *'It  awakened  the  happy  me- 
mories of  our  youth,"  she  said  one  day,  referring 
to  this  old  acquaintance  renewed.  She  often  spoke 
■about  it  to  Bonnat,  the  painter,  who  had  brought 
:about  the  first  meeting,  which  was  followed  by  many 
others.  In  a  codicil  to  her  will,  added  in  1891,  at 
.a  time  w^hen  she  was  vexed  with  Prince  Victor  and 

65 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

consequently  overlooked  one  of  lier  nephews  in  fa- 
vor of  the  other,  she  had,  oddly  enough,  been  care- 
ful to  remember  the  Due  d'Aumale,  leaving  him  a 
portrait,  by  Nattier,  of  a  prince  of  the  house  of 
Conde.  When  the  Due  d'Aumale  died,  she  modified 
the  codicil  and  bequeathed  the  painting  to  the  Due 
de  Chartres. 

What  thouglits  this  simple  act  awakes.  And  the 
Empress  made  this  note  on  the  subject,  which  I  re- 
copy  and  put  here,  where  it  seems  to  be  quite  in  its 
place:  "Two  dynasties  that  have  spent  long  years 
in  quarrels,  and  whose  partisans  have  been  des- 
perate enemies,  by  such  an  action  as  this  seem  to 
forget  the  past.  Chance  brings  about  a  meeting 
between  these  two  strong  characters,  such  typical 
representatives  of  the  two  regimes :  Bonapartists 
and  Orleanists  exchange  greetings  of  peace,  in  their 
person,  while  the  pamphlet,  'Letter  on  the  History 
of  France,'  which  croatod  a  considerable  sensation 
in  1861  and  which  was  a  severe  arraignment  of  the 
Empire,  was  forgotten,  as  was  also  the  duel  which 
nearly  took  place  between  Prince  Napoleon  and  the 
Due  d'Aumale.  It  is  true,  however,  that  the  former 
was  dead  when  the  reconciliation  between  the  Prin- 
cess and  the  Due  took  place.  At  first,  partisans  on 
neither  side  could  understand  such  an  altered  state 
of  things,  and  continued  to  bicker  about  it.  But 
the  Republic  is  in  power,  and  the  vanquished  par- 
ties, at  first  widely  divided,  now  gradually  draw 
nearer  to  one  another,  all  ready,  however,  if  one  of 
them  should  appear  to  be  rising  to  the  surface,  to 
become  once  more  sworn  enemies !  But,  in  the 
meantime,  there  is  no  reason  why  these  conservative 
elements  should  not  amalgamate,  since  there  is  no 

66 


PRINCESS  MATIULDE 

political  advantage  gained  in  such  a  union,  espe- 
cially as  tiiis  category  of  Frencli  citizens  remain 
more  than  ever  outside  of  all  political  movements. 
This  was  the  view  of  the  political  situation  in  France 
since  1870  taken  by  both  Princess  Mathilde  and  the 
Due  d'Aumale  and  which  brought  them  together  at 
the  close  of  their  lives." 

Princess  Mathilde  early  came  under  the  influence 
of  a  man  of  remarkable  taste,  Comte  de  Nieuwer- 
kerke,  the  sculptor,  who  encouraged  her  artistic  ten- 
dencies and  introduced  artists  to  her  salon.  As  a 
child,  she  drew  with  much  taste,  and,  later  in  life, 
spent  several  hours  in  her  studio  almost  daily,  even 
to  the  very  end.  She  had  very  talented  professors, 
among  whom  maj^  be  mentioned,  besides  Comte  de 
Xieuwerkerke,  the  Girauds,  Doucet,  Hebert,  and 
Claudius  Popelin.  Her  drawing-rooms  in  Paris 
were  filled  with  modern  Avoi'ks  alternating  with  fine 
canvases  of  the  old  masters.  She  even  publicly  ex- 
hibited some  of  her  own  work.  When,  under  the 
Second  Empii'e,  M.  de  Niouwerkerke  was  made  Su- 
perintendent of  Fine  Arts,  he  became  supreme  in 
tlie  Princess's  di'awing-room  so  long  as  the  Em- 
pire lasted.  He  proved  an  admirable  Mentor  in 
many  respects,  and  the  vogue  which  Princess  Ma- 
thilde's  salon  enjoyed  long  after  his  death  and  up 
to  the  very  moment  of  her  own,  was  in  no  small 
measure  due  to  the  presence  and  good  counsel  of 
this  excfllent  man. 

At  times,  unfortunately.  Princess  Mathilde  al- 
lowed herself  to  be  influenced  by  the  occnpant  of  the 
Palais  Poyal — her  brother,  Prince  Xapoleon — and 
occasionally  tolerated  a  somewhat  censorious  style 
of   conversation    in    her   drawing-room   which   was 

67 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

commented  on  at  the  Tuileries  and  much  blamed. 
While  outwardly  amiable  towards  the  Empress 
Eugenie,  she  now  and  then  allowed  things  to 
be  said  against  her  and  against  those  who  sur- 
rounded her.  She  also  took  an  active  part  in  all  anti- 
church  questions,  for  she  was  inclined  to  free-think- 
ing. The  truth  is  the  mansion  in  the  Rue  de  Cour- 
celles,  where  met  twice  a  week  so  many  men  of  talent 
and  wit,  as  also  so  many  critics  of  the  Empire,  be- 
came at  times  ''a  temple  of  epigrams,"  as  the  Em- 
peror well  described  it.  The  intimate  friends  of 
the  Princess  momentarily  imitated  the  tone  which 
prevailed  at  the  Palais  Royal.  Though,  I  hasten 
to  add,  these  outbursts  were  only  casual,  the  Em- 
peror was  much  pained  by  them.  He  did  not  show 
his  feelings,  however,  and  pretended  to  attach  only 
a  secondary  importance  to  the  matter.  But  those 
who  were  received  both  at  the  Tuileries  and  the  Rue 
de  Courcelles  might  well  be  surprised  at  the  free- 
dom of  language  heard  in  the  latter  abode,  a  free- 
dom, indeed,  which  not  infrequently  exceeded  the 
limits  of  good  breeding.  This  assertion  can  no 
longer  be  questioned,  since  writers  of  talent  have 
noted  in  their  journals,  now  in  print,  the  spirited 
conversations  heard  in  the  drawing-rooms  of  the 
Princess.  The  Empress  declared  this  to  be  the  case 
at  the  time,  but  her  assertions  were  often  denied. 
But  they  can  be  denied  no  longer.  It  should  be  borne 
in  mind,  however,  that  it  was  the  guests  and  not  the 
hostess,  as  a  rule,  who  were  guilty  of  this  intem- 
perance of  language. 

One  of  the  chroniclers  of  Princess  Mathilde's 
salon,  Comte  Horace  de  Viel  Castel,  was  famed  for 
his  spitefulness.    He  spoke  against  every  one,  was 

68 


PRINCESS  MATPIILDE 

vexed  with  every  one,  and  would  relate  in  an  acrimo- 
nious tone  what  was  said  or  what  w^as  thought,  and 
what  might  have  been  said  or  what  might  have  been 
thought.  It  would  be  useless  to  contradict  here 
that  tissue  of  spite  and,  often,  of  lies  woven  by 
this  venomous  pen.  M.  Viel  Gastel,  who  was  at 
first  protected  by  M.  de  Nieuwerkerke  but  later 
dropped  by  him,  was  particularly  bitter  in  the  way 
he  spoke  of  his  former  patrons  and  treated  both 
the  Princess  and  M.  de  Nieuwerkerke  with  great 
asperity  of  language.  He  exaggerated  greatly,  it 
w^ould  seem,  the  reprehensible  side  of  the  conversa- 
tions held  in  Princess  Mathilde's  drawing-rooms 
when  the  Emperor  and  his  consort  were  under  dis- 
cussion. Many  of  those  who  spoke  so  carelessly  did 
not  imagine  that  their  indiscreet  remarks  and 
calumnies  were  being  gathered  together  word  by 
word  and  preserved  for  posterity  by  the  spiteful 
pen  of  Viel  Castel.  His  untruths  have  already  been 
pointed  out  by  others,  and  just  how  much,  or  rather, 
just  how  little,  dependence  can  be  placed  on  his  work 
has  been  clearly  stated  in  the  diary  of  the  Gon- 
courts. 

All  this  did  not,  however,  prevent  artists  and  lit- 
erary men  from  fancying  themselves,  when  at  Prin- 
cess Mathilde's  receptions,  at  the  "Ministry  of  fa- 
vors" and  from  passing  all  their  requests  and  de- 
mands through  the  cousin  of  the  Emperor.  In  fact, 
she  obtained  many  favors  for  them,  for  she  had 
retained  a  certain  amount  of  influence  over  Napo- 
leon, and,  as  she  did  not  meddle  in  politics,  there 
was  no  great  harm  in  granting  her  requests. 

One  of  the  chief  sources  of  Princess  Mathilde's 
influence  at  the  Tuileries  was  her  devotion  to  the 

69 


:memoiks  of  tup:  empress  eugenie 

Prince  Imperial.  She  was  sincerely  fond  of  cliil- 
dren  in  g'cneral,  and  was  especially  full  of  atten- 
tions to  the  young-  heir  to  the  throne.  She  gave  a 
children's  party  in  his  honor  in  the  middle  of  the 
reign,  where  Lockroy's  ''School-Master"  was 
])layed  on  a  tiny  stage  by  M.  du  Sommerard's 
daughters,  Joseph  Primoli,  Jules  Espinasse,  and  the 
other  young  friends  of  the  Prince  Imperial.  There 
was  a  cotillion  led  by  Mile.  Marie  Abbatucci,  Easter 
eggs  were  liidden  in  the  garden  and  hunted  for  by 
the  young  people,  and  other  similar  amusements 
were  provided  for  the  youthful  guests,  who  all  de- 
clared that  nowhere  else  had  they  ever  had  so  good 
a  time.  This  all  pleased  the  parents,  too,  and  natu- 
rally rendered  the  Princess  very  popular.  The  Em- 
peror and  Empress  had  come  to  witness  their  son's 
pleasure,  and  the  Prince  Imperial  could  scarcely 
tear  himself  a^vay  from  the  spot  where  he  was  pass- 
ing such  a  pleasant  afternoon.  In  vain  his  preceptor 
called  him.  "I  cannot  find  my  cap,"  exclaimed  the 
boy  in  his  excitement.  The  Emperor  had  hidden  it 
so  that  his  son  might  remain  a  little  longer! 

Princess  Mathilde  often  visited  at  the  Tuileries, 
Saint  Cloud,  Fontainebleau  and  Compiegne.  She 
was  present  at  all  the  ceremonies  demanded  by  eti- 
quette, and  avoided  none  of  the  duties  incumbent 
upon  her  as  the  cousin  of  the  Emperor.  Yet  she 
enjoyed  being  nowhere  so  much  as  at  her  home, 
where  everj^  evening,  when  not  obliged  to  go  to 
Court,  she  held  a  reception,  unless  there  happened 
to  be  a  first  night  at  the  Theatre  Frangais,  wdiich 
was  one  of  her  favorite  pastimes.  This  led  the  Em- 
peror to  say:  "If  ^vlathilde  were  not  a  Princess, 
she  would  surely  be  a  theater  manager,  and  if  she 

70 


PRINCESS  MATIIILDE 

filled  this  part  as  well  as  she  does  the  other,  her 
house  would  surpass  the  Comedie  FraiiQaise." 

Her  very  eclectic  drawing-room  was  most  inter- 
esting. Diplomats,  literary  men,  artists  of  all  kinds, 
politicians  of  all  shades  were  welcomed  there. 
Among  the  men  of  letters,  she  had  certain  favorites. 
First  was  Flaubert,  who  was  later  replaced  by  ]^lau- 
passant.  Then  came  Taine,  whom  she  wished  to 
marry  in  1856  to  a  person  of  her  choice,  and  whom 
she  continued  to  see  long  after  the  fall  of  the  Sec- 
ond Empire,  until  he  drew  such  a  harsh  portrait 
of  Napoleon  I,  when,  much  to  the  amusement  of 
the  Paris  literary  and  political  world,  she  vvittily 
cut  off  relations  with  him  by  having  her  footman 
leave  her  visiting  card  at  his  door  with  a  p.  c.  c.  in 
the  corner.  Francois  Coppee  was  much  at  her  house 
in  the  very  first  days  of  his  fame,  as  was  also  Sainte- 
Beuve,  a  faithful  correspondent,  from  whom  she 
separated  only  in  1869,  also  for  political  reasons. 
Merimee,  Theophile  Grautier,  Amedee  Pichot, 
Yrairte,  Augier,  Sandeau,  and  Feuillet  were  among 
the  best  known  French  authors  who  were  frequent 
visitors  in  the  Rue  de  Coui'celles.  Many  of  them 
came  later  to  the  Rue  do  l>erri.  That  eccentric 
Franco-American  scholar,  Henry  Harrisse,  used  to 
recount  there  every  fresh  step  in  his  remarkable 
Columbian  labors.  The  Goricourts  installed  them- 
selves in  her  drawing-room  as  oracles,  observing 
all  that  took  place,  judging,  directing,  and  iruhis- 
triously  collecting  the  most  minute  fragmcjits  of 
the  wit  which  was  so  freely  flung  about.  Alost  of 
these  friends  were  also  giKsls  at  Saint  (h'atien, 
the  pretty  property  neai-  the  Lake  of  l^nghien,  once 
belonging  to  Marshal  Catinat,  wliicli  Pi'Incess  Ma- 

71 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

thilde  bought  from  the  Marquis  de  Custine.  There 
also,  at  various  times,  could  be  seen  the  Bonaparte 
Princesses  with  their  husbands  and  children,  for 
Princess  Mathilde  always  did  all  in  her  power  to 
aid  in  keeping  union  and  friendship  alive  in  the 
historic  family  from  which  she  sprang. 

Princess  Mathilde  herself  was  not  very  fond  of 
music,  but  she  took  care  to  procure  good  musical 
treats  for  her  guests.  All  the  great  composers,  per- 
formers, and  vocal  stars  of  the  day  were  heard  in 
her  drawing-room.  Among  the  famous  prima  don- 
nas who  added  to  their  fame  in  this  circle  I  recall 
Alboni,  who,  on  account  of  her  size,  was  surnamed 
by  one  of  Princess  Mathilde 's  wits,  ''an  elephant 
who  has  swallowed  a  nightingale";  Miolan  Carvalho 
and  Christine  Xilsson.  The  wife  of  General  Bataille 
and  Mme.  Conneau  also  sang  from  time  to  time  in 
the  Rue  de  Berri. 

Princess  Mathilde  encouraged  with  great  enthu- 
siasm all  literary  eiforts.  Many  writers  who  fre 
quented  her  house  read  their  manuscripts  to  her, 
with  benefit  to  them  and  their  Avorks.  She  studied 
history,  polities,  everything  that  had  any  connection 
with  art  and  literature,  and  so  had  developed  a 
learned  mind  and  a  cultivated  taste  that  were  recog- 
nized by  everybody.  The  Emperor  has  well  said : 
"She  was,  as  regards  the  diAcrsity  of  her  acquire- 
ments, and  the  generous  and  efficacious  ijrotection 
she  granted  to  writers,  a  true  MargTieritc  of  Xa- 
varre. ' ' 

Princess  Mathilde  seldom  wrote  her  impressions 
of  men  and  things  except  to  Sainte-Beuve',  whose 
letters  to  her  have  been  published  but  whose  letters 
from  her  still  remain  unedited.    I  have  seen  some 

72 


PRINCESS  MATHILDE 

of  these,  however.  After  the  great  success  scored 
by  the  Lion  Amour eux  in  1866,  she  sent  Saintc- 
Beuve  the  following  peculiar  letter,  indicative  of 
patriotic  and  liberal  sentiments,  which  may  be  given 
as  a  fair  specimen  of  a  certain  side  of  her  epistolary 
talent: 

^'Ponsard's  piece  has  delighted  me;  in  the  first 
place,  because  the  characters  speak  French  and 
awaken  French  patriotism  and,  in  the  second  place, 
because  it  is  admirably  well  played.  The  piece 
has  revived  all  my  old  republican  feelings.  I  felt 
like  starting  off  with  the  Republicans  to  exterminate 
the  Royalists,  those  unworth}'-  Frenchmen !  When  the 
father  of  the  young  woman  wlio  is  converted  by  the 
youthfulness  of  a  Republican  general  and  marries 
him  in  spite  of  all  and  eveiy  one — when  this  father 
to  whom  Hoche  has  just  given  his  freedom — ^v/hen 
this  old  liberated  emigrant  says :  '  Come,  my  daugh- 
ter, let  us  go  over  to  the  English' — at  this  point,  I 
wanted  to  hiss !  I  was  quite  satisfied  with  myself,  to 
find  that  I  am  still  capable  of  strong  and  patriotic 
feelings.  I  am  not  noble  enough  to  number  among 
my  relations  any  who  have  fallen  beneath  the  guillo- 
tine; my  nobility  is  born  of  the  Revolution.  I  like 
it,  I  understand  it,  without  excusing  its  crimes.  I 
am  indulgent  towards  its  errors  and  I  would  like  to 
see  every  Frenchman  realize  its  grandeur  and  de- 
fend its  good  name." 

Commenting  on  this  letter,  the  Emperor  once 
said:  "Mathilde  paints  her  own  character  faith-' 
fully  in  that  page.  She  has  always  possessed  liberal 
and  patriotic  sentiments,  and  seemed  veiy  little  at- 
tracted towards  the  royalists.  She  even  exagge- 
rates sometimes  her  liberal  ideas." 

73 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

On  the  religious  question  which,  during  the  Sec- 
ond Empire,  divided  parties  and  even  fractions  of 
parties  to  such  a  great  extent.  Princess  Mathilde 
was  openly  anti-clerical.  Sometimes  she  was  vio- 
lent in  her  judgments  and  often  even  unjust.  Both 
the  Emperor  and  the  Empress  felt  that  the  govern- 
ment labored  under  sufficient  difficulties  in  this  Eo- 
man  question  without  having  dissension  crop  up  in 
their  immediate  circle,  and  above  all  in  his  very 
family.  At  Princess  Mathilde 's  receptions,  as  at 
those  of  Prince  Xapoleon,  one  often  heard  reflec- 
tions on  this  subject  that  really  shocked  by  their 
excessive  freedom.  Something  of  this  same  kind 
frequently  happened  also  at  the  house  of  Princess 
Julie  Bonaparte,  who  was  married  to  the  Marquis 
of  Eoccagiovino,  and  who  seemed  to  prefer  to  gather 
about  her  those  belonging  to  the  Opposition.  On 
this  point  the  Emperor  once  said:  "Princes  often 
have  these  strange  fancies  and  do  not  realize  what 
the  consequences  of  their  taste  for  criticism  and  dis- 
sension may  be,  but  allow  their  friends  to  do  great 
harm  to  the  common  cause  by  this  unwise  freedom 
of  speech.  Nothing  w^eakened  my  position  more 
than  the  unbridled  tongues  of  some  of  my  indiscreet 
relatives. ' ' 

But  it  was  not  only  Ponsard  whom  Princess  Ma- 
thilde applauded  at  the  theater.  She  also  stood  by 
the  Goncourts,  whose  Ile-nriette  Marccltal  gave  rise 
to  many  stormy  evenings  at  the  Frangais  in  the  ^\in- 
ter  of  18G5.  Realism  at  the  theater  was  considered 
most  extraordinary  in  those  days  and  the  play  fell 
flat,  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  the  Princess  and  her 
friends.  Some  twenty  years  later  it  w^as  revived 
at  the   Odeon.     Princess   Mathilde  was   delighted. 

74 


PRINCESS  MATHILDE 

The  play  had,  however,  only  a  half  success.  Times 
had  changed ;  it  was  considered  rather  weak.  Many 
pages  might  be  written  concerning  the  histrionic 
activity  of  Princess  Mathilde.  "She  ought  to  have 
been  a  playwright,"  her  Imperial  cousin  once  re- 
marked, "only  then  she  could  not  have  given  such 
effective  support  to  the  plays  of  others,  where  was 
her  real  strength.  When  she  saw  that  a  piece  was 
good,  she  wished  to  make  others  see  it;  and  she 
often  succeeded  in  this  difficult  task. ' ' 

Artists  felt  even  more  at  home  in  Princess  Ma- 
thilde's  house  than  did  literary  men.  She  was  their 
companion,  not  jealous  of  their  talent,  who  felt 
kindly  towards  them.  Whenever  there  was  an  oc- 
casion for  it,  she  would  be  generous  to  them  in 
pecuniary  ways.  Some  of  these  painters  had  a  fash- 
ion of  almost  settling  down  in  her  house,  bringing 
with  them  their  familiar  and  sometimes  reprehensi- 
ble manners.  They  occasionally  even  indulged  in 
jokes  of  doubtful  taste.  For  instance,  one  Sunday 
under  the  Empire,  they  hit  on  what  they  considered 
an  excellent  farce.  One  of  them  dressed  himself 
up  so  as  to  look  exactly  like  Demidoff  and  then  en- 
tered the  dining-room,  where  a  dinner  was  being 
given  with  Comte  de  Nieuwerkerke  as  the  principal 
guest.  Thereupon,  the  other  guests  fled  in  a  gen- 
eral panic,  leaving  the  Princess  alone  with  her  pre- 
tended husband.  But  an  explanation  from  the 
painter  soon  brought  back  the  fugitives.  The  Prin- 
cess thought  the  best  thing  she  could  do  under  the 
circumstances  was  to  laugh  at  the  joke,  but  the 
story  got  abroad  and  caused  much  surprise.  It 
was  felt,  in  some  quarters,  that  on  such  occasions 
the  Princess  did  not  show  sufficient  severity.     She 

75 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPEESS  EUGENIE 

was  partly  disarmed  by  the  fact  that  she  herself 
sometimes  indulged  in  little  outbursts  of  wit  which 
were  often  amusing,  perhaps  now  and  then  rather 
trivial,  occasionally  pretty  keen,  and  frequently  a 
trifle  spiteful. 

For  instance,  Vicomte  de  la  Gueronniere,  the  au- 
thor and  diplomat,  who  had  a  rather  weak  character, 
was  one  day  thus  addressed  by  the  Princess:  "You 
are  so  anxious  to  hurt  no  one's  feelings,  that  you  are 
really  all  things  to  all  men. ' ' 

If  any  one  was  ostensibly  lacking  in  deference 
towards  her.  Princess  Mathilde  sometimes  got  quite 
angry.  One  day,  for  example,  Edmond  About  was 
guilty  of  some  ill-placed  puns  before  dinner,  where- 
upon Princess  Mathilde,  without  making  any  fuss 
about  it,  merely  ordered  his  knife  and  fork  to  be 
withdrawn  from  the  table.  Edmond  About  under- 
stood the  lesson  and  accepted  the  punishment.  He 
obtained  forgiveness  this  time,  but  when  later  he 
showed  himself  in  the  field  of  politics  to  be  the  vio- 
lent enemy  of  that  which  he  had  formerly  praised, 
Princess  Mathilde  intimated  that  he  need  not  re- 
turn. This  was  also  the  fate  of  the  celebrated  archi- 
tect Viollet  le  Due,  the  restorer,  among  other  things, 
of  Pierrefonds,  whom  the  Emperor  and  the  Gov- 
ernment had  loaded  with  favors  and  who  proved 
himself  ungrateful  and  unfair.  She  did  not  forgive 
Taine,  as  has  been  seen,  for  his  severe  criticism  of 
Napoleon  I ;  nor  Sainte-Beuve  for  having  consented 
to  join  the  staff  of  the  Temps,  a  paper  which  was 
very  hostile  to  the  Empire.  She  called  on  him  at 
his  modest  home  in  the  Rue  Montparnasse  and  re- 
proached him  violently  for  this  act.  They  never  met 
again.     Although  Sainte-Beuve  wrote  to  her,  she 

76 


PRINCESS  MATHILDE 

would  not  reply.  But,  in  the  following  year,  when 
Sainte-Beuve  was  dying,  she  relented.  This  was 
in  1869,  when  she,  during  the  absence  of  the 
Empress  in  Egypt  for  the  inauguration  of  the  Suez 
Canal,  was  helping  Napoleon  receive  a  number  of 
guests  at  the  palace  of  Compiegne,  and  could  not 
leave  the  spot.  So  all  she  could  do  was  to  generously 
send  a  little  word  of  forgiveness  to  the  languishing 
critic  by  Professor  Zeller.  This  action  was  very 
characteristic  of  Princess  Mathilde,  Though  she 
was  always  a  good  hater,  there  was  a  generosity 
about  her  that  would  not  permit  her  anger  to  fol- 
low its  object  to  the  grave. 

After  the  downfall  of  the  Empire,  Princess  Ma- 
thilde went  into  a  more  modest  hotel  in  the  Rue  de 
Berri;  but  her  social  position  was  in  no  way  dimin- 
ished. Her  salon  continued  to  be  tlie  meeting  place 
of  all  the  illustrious  men  of  every  branch  of  art 
and  letters.  All  praised  her  good  sense  in  taking 
no  part  in  politics  during  the  Third  Republic,  and 
remaining  merely  a  protector  of  the  literary  and 
art  world.  Princes  and  ambassadors,  academicians 
and  politicians  of  all  parties  had  the  pleasant  habit 
of  coming  together  regularly  in  her  drawing-room, 
whore  she  was  always  found  in  happy  mood,  wear- 
ing the  legendary  pearl  necklace,  and  seated  under 
a  large  palm,  by  a  marble  bust  of  Napoleon. 

When  her  brother.  Prince  Napoleon,  who,  as  we 
have  seen,  was  like  his  sister  in  many  respects,  died 
in  Rome  in  1891,  Princess  Mathilde  hastened  to  his 
deathbed,  watched  by  him,  and  was  kindness  itself 
to  her  sister-in-law.  Princess  Clotilde.  She  then 
met  Prince  Victor,  whom  she  had  not  seen  since 
his  quarrel  with  his  father.    When  Prince  Napoleon 

77 


MEMOIliS  OP  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

passed  away,  it  was  supposed  that  all  the  family  di- 
visions had  died  Avith  him.  One  was  led  to  tliink, 
on  seeing  Princess  Mathilde  leaning  on  her  nephew's 
arm,  that  the  quarrels  of  former  days  would  be  for- 
gotten. How  happened  it  then  that  she  did  not  tear 
up  her  old  will?  She  did  not  think  of  it,  her  friends 
say.  But  it  was  a  painful  surprise  for  all  when, 
after  her  death,  in  1904,  it  was  found  that  she  had 
bequeathed  all  her  fortune,  with  the  excej)tion  of 
some  artistic  trifles  left  to  various  friends,  among 
whom  was  Prince  Victor,  to  her  other  nephew, 
Prince  Louis,  the  brother  of  Prince  Victor,  who  sold 
everything  as  he  was  advised  to  do,  and  thus  found 
himself,  I  have  been  informed,  possessed  of  five  or 
six  millions  of  francs. 

The  death  of  Prince  Napoleon  at  least  brought 
about  a  complete  reconciliation  between  the  Em- 
press Eugenie  and  the  Princess  Mathilde.  The  for- 
mer never  could  entirely  forget  Prince  Napoleon's 
conduct  towards  her,  and  this  coldness  with  the 
brother  naturally  somewhat  chilled  relations  with 
the  sister.  He  had  almost  always  been  Eugenie's 
open  adversary,  and,  while  the  Prince  Imperial  was 
alive,  had  often  done  his  utmost  to  disturb  the  pol- 
icy of  the  party.  After  the  death  of  the  Prince 
Imperial,  in  1879,  he  assumed  the  role  of  a  Prince 
of  the  Left,  holding  very  advanced  opinions,  and 
caused  thereby  such  regrettable  divisions  among  the 
imperialists  that  two  very  distinct  factions  were 
formed,  one  following  the  father's  lead  and  the 
other  that  of  the  son.  Without  ostensibly  taking 
either  side,  the  Empress  naturally  favored  that  of 
Prince  Victor,  always  showing  for  him  the  deepest 

78 


PRINCESS  MATHILDE 

interest  and  affection.  Altliongh  she  regretted  the 
manner  in  wliich  the  separation  between  the  two 
Princes  had  occurred,  her  sympathy  was  naturally 
much  greater  for  the  son  than  for  the  father.  As 
has  been  more  than  once  stated  in  these  memoirs, 
Eugenie  was  never  able  to  get  on  with  the  latter, 
notwithstanding  passing  moments  of  better  under- 
standing. For  instance,  when  she  visited  him  at  the 
Conciergerie  in  1882,  when  he  was  arrested  on  the 
occasion  of  his  unauthorized  return  to  France,  she 
could  not  wholly  forget  his  questionable  attitude  at 
the  time  of  the  Prince  Imperial's  funeral  and  other 
acts,  which  revealed  his  unfriendly  feelings  for  the 
Emperor  and  the  fallen  regime.  But  the  Empress 
forgave  much  on  account  of  her  growing  love  for 
his  sister,  whom  she  often  met  in  Paris  when  pass- 
ing through  the  city,  during  the  closing  years  of  her 
life.  Then  they  w^ould  have  long  conversations,  and 
exchange  many  affectionate  greetings.  The  Em- 
press dined  several  times  at  the  mansion  in  the  Rue 
de  Berri,  at  this  period,  and  the  two  ladies  became 
quite  intimate.  The  squabbles,  political  diver- 
gencies and  religious  dissensions,  which  so  often 
marred  Princess  ^Mathilde's  relations  with  the  Sec- 
ond Empire,  had  then  all  disappeared  from  the 
memory  of  both.  Much  more  gentle  in  her  declining 
years,  Princess  Mathilde  was  careful  to  avoid  sub- 
jects which  might  disjjlease  the  Empress,  who  on 
the  other  side,  Avas  always  desirous  of  showing 
marked  amiability  towards  her  cousin.  During  the 
last  months  of  her  eartlily  life,  Eugenie  frequently 
went  to  see  her  at  Saint  Gratien,  and  spent  whole 
days  by  her  bedside,  with   Princess  Clotilde;  and 

79 


MEMOIKS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

when  death  finally  came,  the  Empress  was  very 
deeply  affected,  for  many  dear  things  of  the  past, 
many  good  and  suggestive  memories,  were  buried  in 
the  tomb  of  Napoleon's  noble  niece. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  BIRTH  AND  CHRISTENING  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

As  long  as  her  health  allowed  it,  the  Empress 
continued  to  show  herself  in  Paris.  She  was  seen, 
for  instance,  during  the  first  w^eek  of  March,  1856, 
crossing  the  Faubourg  Saint  Antoine  on  a  visit  to 
the  school  for  working  girls  which  she  had  lately 
founded.  Later  in  the  same  day  Eugenie  followed 
the  boulevards,  with  the  Emperor  but  without 
escort,  to  examine  the  layette,  or  baby-linen,  at  Mile. 
Felicie's  in  the  Rue  Vivienne.  A  few  days  later,  she 
ceased  to  leave  the  Tuileries,  the  Archbishop  de- 
manded the  prayers  of  the  diocese  for  her,  and  the 
moment  seemed  near  at  hand  when  the  Empress 
might  give  birth  to  the  much-desired  child. 

The  household  of  the  "Child  of  France"  was  al- 
ready formed.  Madame  Bruat,  widow  of  the  well- 
known  admiral,  had  consented,  to  leave  the  seclu- 
sion in  which  she  had  remained  since  the  death  of 
her  husband,  who  had  succumbed  on  his  return  from 
the  Crimea,  to  accept  the  position  of  Gouvernante. 
Madame  Bizot  and  Madame  de  Brancion,  widows 
respectively  of  a  general  and  a  colonel  killed  in  the 
Crimea,  were  chosen  as  assistant  Gouvernantes. 

On  March  13th  and  14th  the  cradle  offered  by  the 
municipality  of  Paris  was  on  view  at  the  City  Hall. 
It  was  in  the  form  of  a  ship  made  of  rosewood.  On 
the  poop,   a  large   draped  figure,   symbolizing  the 

81 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

town,  supported  the  Imperial  crown.  The  long  and 
graceful  folds  of  the  sky-blue  satin  curtains  were 
covered  with  Alengon  lace.  At  the  foot  were  two 
little  genii  who  would  protect  the  sleeping  child. 
The  prow  of  the  ship  was  upheld  by  an  eagle  with 
spread  wings.  Small  columns,  round  which  twined 
corn  and  olive  branches,  formed  the  base  of  the 
cradle.  On  the  sides  were  Sevres  medallions  repre- 
senting Justice,  Prudence,  Vigilance  and  Force. 

So  great  was  the  crowd  which  assembled  to  see 
this  work  of  art,  that  the  authorities  announced  that 
it  would  be  exposed  a  day  longer.  Consequently, 
much  disappointment  was  felt  the  next  morning 
when  the  Salle  du  Trone  was  not  opened  to  the  pub- 
lic and  it  was  learned  that  the  cradle  had  been  sud- 
denly carried  to  the  Tuileries,  where  it  was  believed 
its  presence  would  soon  be  necessary.  The  whole 
day  passed  in  expectation.  The  state  bodies  sat  in 
permanent  session,  awaiting  the  arrival  at  any  mo- 
ment of  an  envoy  from  the  palace.  The  artillery- 
men of  the  Invalides  did  not  leave  their  guns.  Ve- 
netian masts  were  hastily  raised  and  banners  al- 
ready floated  from  the  department  buildings.  Until 
long  after  midnight  the  Parisians  still  waited  to 
hear  the  first  cannon.  Slowly  the  crowd  melted 
away  from  around  the  Tuileries  with  the  gathering 
darkness,  and  only  a  few  small  groups  remained 
around  the  castle,  where  the  event  was  anxiously 
expected. 

The  Emperor  and  Comtesse  de  Montijo  watched 
by  the  Empress'  side,  while  in  the  adjourning  apart- 
ments were  the  Princesse  d'Essling,  Duchesse  de 
Bassano  and  Madame  Bruat.  Prince  Napoleon, 
Princess  Mathilde  and  the  other  members  of  the 

82 


BIRTH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

Emperor's  family  holding'  rank  at  court  were  in 
the  Green  salon  near  Napoleon's  study.  The  chief 
officers  of  the  Crown,  a  score  of  other  personages, 
and  the  ladies  of  the  palace  were  assembled  in  the 
drawing-room. 

At  length,  at  half  past  three  in  the  morning,  the 
Prince  Imperial  was  ushered  into  the  world, 
^vladame  Bruat  presented  the  child  to  the  Emperor, 
and  to  the  Empress,  then  to  Prince  Napoleon,  Prince 
Lucien  Murat,  M.  Achille  Fould,  and  M.  Abbatucci, 
both  ministers,  who  had  been  chosen  as  witnesses  of 
the  birth.  One  hundred  and  one  cannon  were  fired 
to  announce  ''the  glad  news  to  the  Parisians,  who 
awoke  rejoicing,"  said  one  of  the  leading-  journals 
which  the  Empress  read  the  next  day. 

There  must  perforce  be  a  considerable  amount  of 
publicity  at  the  birth  of  royal  or  imperial  children; 
witnesses  must  be  present  and  the  event  is  naturally 
surrounded  with  numerous  formalities.  Fortunate- 
ly, however,  the  days  are  past  when  the  crowd  was 
allowed  to  fill  the  palace  and  the  birth-chamber  at 
the  risk  of  killing  the  mother  and  child  through  lack 
of  air,  as  was  nearly  the  case,  when  Marie  Antoi- 
nette first  became  a  mother. 

Cantatas,  compliments  from  all  parts  of  France 
and  Europe,  universal  rejoicings,  deputations  of  all 
kinds,  even  from  the  market-women  of  Paris, 
reached  the  palace  hourly.  The  news  of  the  Prince's 
birth  arrived  at  Sebastopol  on  the  23rd,  and  was 
celebrated  by  the  firing  of  cannon  by  our  own  and 
the  allied  armies,  and,  curiously  enough,  even  the 
Russians  illuminated,  and,  from  Inkerman  on,  the 
whole  line  blazed  in  unison.  The  Emperor  seized 
the  happy  occasion  to  try  and  gain  over  to  the  new 

83 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPEESS  EUGENIE 

regime  these  irreconcilable  Frenchmen  who  still  re- 
fused to  accept  the  Second  Empire.  So,  on  March 
20th,  a  full  and  free  amnesty  was  granted  to  all  who 
had  been  expelled  from  France  after  the  events  of 
1848  and  1851.  The  sole  condition  made  was  that 
they  should  loyally  accept  the  Imperial  government. 
Though  many  exiles  took  advantage  of  this  offer, 
a  few  refused  to  forget  the  past  and  most  of  these 
continued  unfriendly  to  the  government  to  the  very 
end.  Furthermore,  in  order  to  show  her  gratitude 
for  the  popular  goodwill,  the  Empress  announced 
that  all  children  born  on  March  16th  could  have  the 
"Empress  and  Emperor  as  godmother  and  god- 
father, if  request  were  made  to  the  proper  authori- 
ties." Many  demands  of  this  kind  were  made  and 
granted. 

Again  the  sound  of  one  hundred  and  one  cannon 
shots  startled  Paris.  This  time  it  was  on  the  30th 
of  March  and  proclaimed  the  glad  news  of  the  sign- 
ing of  the  treaty  between  France  and  Russia.  In 
this  peace  all  might  rejoice,  for  it  was  made  on 
terms  honorable  to  both  parties.  Paris  was  illumi- 
nated and  the  joy  of  the  capital  spread  throughout 
the  country,  and  far  beyond  the  frontiers  of  France, 
for  from  all  over  Europe  came  congratulations  to 
the  sovereigns.  This  news  gave  Eugenie  great 
pleasure,  and  this  month  of  March,  1856,  was,  for 
her,  the  happiest  of  the  reign. 

In  the  meantime,  the  Empress  was  recovering 
rapidly,  and  the  child  appeared  healthy  and  strong. 
And  forthwith  he  began  to  be  the  recipient  of  that 
long  series  of  decorations  which  crowned  heads  be- 
stow on  those  distinguished  by  birth  or  attainments. 
On  April  13th  the  list  was  opened  by  the  Due  d  'Albe, 

84 


BIRTH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

who  brought  the  Order  of  the  Golden  Fleece  to 
the  young  Prince,  on  whom  it  had  been  conferred 
by  Queen  Isabella;  and  throughout  his  short  life 
the  bestowal  of  these  honors  continued.  On  April 
28th,  the  day  on  which  the  treaty  of  peace  was  offi- 
cially promulgated,  the  Prince  Imperial  was  in- 
scribed as  an  ''enfant  de  troupe"  on  the  register 
of  the  first  regiment  of  the  Grenadiers  of  the  Guard. 
Thus  early  also  began  his  military  training,  for 
which  art  he  had  a  veritable  passion  and  in  the  pur- 
suance of  which  he  finally  lost  his  life. 

The  diplomatic  body  in  Paris  and  the  King  of 
Wiirtemberg,  then  staying  at  the  Pavilion  de  Mar- 
san,  came  to  present  their  respects  to  the  Empress 
the  day  after  her  recovery,  and,  at  their  request, 
they  were  taken  to  see  the  infant  Prince.  Thus  was 
inaugurated  a  custom  which  was  continued  through- 
out the  Second  Empire.  All  the  great  personages 
who  visited  the  Tuileries  saw  the  Prince  Imperial, 
who,  in  this  way,  from  his  earliest  youth  became 
acquainted  w^ith  the  leading  rulers  and  public  men 
of  Europe.  This  had  much  to  do  in  making  him 
the  broadly  cultured  youth  that  he  unquestionably 
became ;  and  from  the  very  first  day  of  her  restora- 
tion to  health,  Eugenie  made  his  education,  both 
intellectual  and  moral,  the  first  act  of  her  thought 
and  solicitude.  ''We  are  resolved  to  make  him  a 
worthy  man  and  prince,"  the  Emperor  wrote  in  re- 
ply to  a  letter  of  congratulation,  "The  Empress 
is  especially  interested  in  this  good  work.  When 
she  puts  her  heart  and  mind  in  anything,  she  always 
succeeds.  So  thus  early  I  feel  sure  that  our  young 
Prince,  if  he  is  given  health  and  years,  will  become 
worthy  of  the  great  name  which  he  bears,  and  if  he 

85 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

should  follow  me  on  the  throne  will  be  equal  to  the 
occasion  and  know  how  to  complete  the  grand  work 
begun  by  his  father  and  my  noble  uncle." 

The  Prince  Imperial  was  born  on  March  16,  1856, 
Palm  Sunday,  day  of  joyous  symbolism.  Who  could 
then  foresee  the  calvary  where  his  short  life  should 
end?  The  beautiful  mother's  mission  which  the 
Empress  had  just  accomplished  seemed  to  make 
her  very  popular  with  the  people.  A  spirit  of  good- 
will appeared  to  rule  everywhere.  Peace  with  Rus- 
sia was  signed  at  the  end  of  the  month,  and  all  the 
political  parties  in  France  had  apparently  laid  aside 
sentiments  hostile  to  the  Empire.  No  cloud  dark- 
ened the  horizon;  outwardly,  at  least,  all  was  calm. 
The  Vatican  and  the  Tuilerios  walked  hand  in  hand, 
French  troops  protected  the  States  of  the  Church, 
and  Pius  IX  stood  ready  to  be  the  godfather  of  the 
Imperial  child.  This  act  gave  great  joy  to  the  Em- 
press who  always  held  in  high  esteem  all  religious 
sentiments  and  who  was  ever  devoted  to  the  Holy 
See. 

On  February  8th  the  Holy  Father  wrote  this  let- 
ter to  the  Emperor,  which  clearly  reflects  the  friend- 
ly feeling  which  he  entertained  for  the  Imperial 
family:  "I  would  hide  from  your  Majesty  the  feel- 
ing that  God  inspires  me  with  a  very  sweet  hope. 
I  believe  that  He  wills  that  new  bounties  shall  de- 
scend upon  you.  Sire,  in  the  measure  in  which  you 
fulfill  your  agreement  to  support  and  protect  the 
Church,  in  whose  bosom  you  were  born.  As  for  me, 
I  have  no  other  aim  in  my  words  and  prayers  than 
to  bring  about  the  glory  of  God,  the  salvation  of 
souls,  the  propagation  of  the  Faith  and  the  honor- 
ing of  Catholic  princes.    Receive.  Sire,  the  apostolic 

S6 


BIRTH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

blessing  which  I  send  to  your  Majesty,  with  effusion 
and  from  the  very  bottom  of  my  heart,  to  her 
Majesty  the  Empress,  to  the  august  infant  she  bears 
on  her  bosom  and  to  all  France. ' ' 

Pius  IX  was  celebrating  mass  on  Palm  Sunday  in 
the  Basilica  of  St.  Peter  when  the  news  of  the 
Prince's  birth  reached  Rome.  Immediately,  on  the 
pontiff' 's  order,  one  hundred  and  one  guns  were  fired 
from  the  Castle  of  the  Holy  Angels,  announcing 
the  news  to  the  innumerable  crowds  gathered  in 
Rome  for  the  festal  season.  Everybody  saw  the 
important  political  bearing  of  the  event,  and  the 
Vatican  naturally  perceived  that  it  was  another  and 
strong  tie  which  bound  France  to  the  Church.  This 
was  its  politico-religious  side,  and  the  religious  side 
was  not  less  important  than  the  political. 

Through  the  intermediary  of  Comte  de  Rayneval, 
French  ambassador  in  Rome,  the  Holy  Father 
thanked  the  Emperor  for  having  had  the  happy 
thought  of  mentioning  in  his  official  speech  the  papal 
blessing  which  had  been  sent  to  the  young  Prince 
at  his  birth.  At  the  same  time  Comte  de  Rayneval 
gave  the  Empress  a  piece  of  news  which  filled  her 
with  joy.  The  Pope  had  decided  that  the  Golden 
Rose  which  he  blesses  each  year  during  the  course 
of  the  Lenten  festivities  should  be  sent  her.  The 
origin  of  this  custom,  which  is  rarely  observed,  is 
not  exactly  known.  The  rose  had  been  given  the 
last  time  to  the  Queen  of  the  two  Sicilies,  when  the 
Holy  Father  returned  to  his  states,  after  the  re- 
publican revolution  of  1849  at  Rome,  in  recognition 
of  the  generous  hosi)itality  he  had  received  at  Gaeta 
and  Portici  during  his  exile. 

No  present  or  distinction  from  a  sovereign  could 

87 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

be  more  pleasing  to  a  sincere  Catholic  than  this 
Golden  Rose.  It  was  thought  that  Eugenie  deserved 
it  for  her  attachment  to  the  Holy  See  and  for  her 
"ardent  faith,"  as  His  Holiness  once  remarked. 
Considering  the  circumstances  in  which  the  Holy 
Father  now  showed  his  sympathy,  this  act  touched 
the  Empress  deeply.  It  strengthened  her  faithful- 
ness toward  the  Holy  See,  both  from  a  religious  and 
a  political  point  of  view,  led  her  more  strongly  than 
ever  to  use  her  influence  for  peace  and  conciliation 
each  time  the  horizon  darkened  between  the  Vatican 
and  the  Imperial  Government,  made  her  more  pa- 
tient over  the  trials  brought  about  by  the  Italian 
question,  and  caused  her  to  show  herself  more  open- 
ly and  more  irreconcilably  hostile  to  the  opponents 
of  the  papal  throne.  Though  it  is  true  that  the  Ro- 
man policy  of  the  Second  Empire  has  often  been 
condemned  even  by  good  Catholics,  it  must  not  be 
forgotten  that  in  the  middle  of  the  last  century  the 
European  situation  w^as  not  what  it  is  now.  The 
Church  in  France  was  a  power  and  the  Church  in 
Rome  was  mighty  both  in  religion  and  politics. 
Brought  up  an  ardent  Catholic  and  surrounded  by 
strong  Catholic  influences,  it  was  only  natural  that 
the  Empress  should  cling  to  the  Vatican  not  simply 
for  personal  reasons  but  in  the  interests  of  France 
itself.  She  held  that  politics  are  always  firmer  when 
allied  with  religion,  and  felt  that  the  moral  support 
of  the  Pope  was  not  to  be  ignored.  Those  were  her 
views  then,  and  such  they  have  ever  been  since. 
Eugenie  was  blamed  for  them  then,  and  has  been 
blamed  for  them  since,  but  I  owe  it  to  sincerity  to 
state  her  position  thus  clearly.  It  explains  many 
things  that  happened  during  the  Second  Empire, 


BIRTH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

which  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  I  speak  thus  openly 
and  frankly.  It  is  my  aim  in  these  memoirs  to  throw 
light  into  obscure  corners  in  the  history  of  these 
times,  and  I  think  posterity  should  know  all  that 
can  be  known  concerning  the  relations  between  the 
Tuileries  and  the  Vatican. 

The  rejoicing  over  the  birth  of  the  Prince  was 
not  confined  to  the  general  public.  The  poets,  for 
example,  also  did  their  part  in  celebrating  the 
event.  The  song  of  "March  Sixteenth,"  by  Camille 
Doucet  and  '*  Napoleon  IV,"  by  Belmontet,  wore 
quite  worthy  of  the  occasion;  but  the  Emperor  and 
Empress  were  more  particularly  touched  by  Theo- 
phile  Gauthier's  verses: 

Qu'un  bonheur  fidele  aecompagne 

L'enfant  imperial  qui  dort, 
Blanc  comme  les  jasmins  d'Espagne, 

Blond  comme  les  abeilles  d'or. 


Au  milieu  des  soleils  sans  nombre, 
Cherehe  au  ciel  Fastre  imperial ! 

Suis  bien  le  sillon  qu'il  te  marque, 
Et  vogue,  fort  du  souvenir, 

Dans  ton  berccau,  devenu  barque, 
Sur  I'ocean  du  souvenir! 

With  these  verses  in  mind,  a  friend  wrote  Eugenie 
in  the  summer  of  1879:  "Who  could  foresee,  in  1856, 
that  the  child  grown  to  manhood  would,  in  order  to 
'recover  the  imperial  star,'  whose  glory  had  depart- 
ed, sail  the  seas  to  foreign  lands,  and  that  the  bark 
would  bring  back  an  inanimate  hero!" 

All  Europe  seemed  to  share  the  delight  of  the 
French  poets  over  the  advent  of  this  male  heir.  A 
hundred  tliousand  francs  were  distributed  to  char- 

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MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

ities  and  the  Emperor  and  Empress  expressed  a 
wish  to  be  godfather  and  godmother  to  all  the  legit- 
imate children  born  on  March  16th.  They  also  had 
the  principal  theaters  of  Paris  thrown  open  at  their 
expense  for  an  afternoon  performance,  on  Monday, 
the  17th. 

The  people  of  Paris  like  out-door  parades  and 
ceremonies  of  every  kind  and  it  was  the  excellent 
policy  of  the  Emperor  never  to  let  an  occasion  pass 
for  gratifying  this  taste.  One  of  the  earliest  oppor- 
tunities of  this  sort  was  the  baptism  of  the  baby 
Prince  Imperial  and  everything  was  done  to  add 
pomp  and  eclat  to  the  event,  which  is  here  described 
somewhat  in  detail  for  this  reason,  as  it  gives  a  fair 
idea  of  a  large  number  of  similar  festivities  thickly 
scattered  through  the  years  of  the  Second  Empire. 

It  had  been  decided  that  the  Prince  Imperial 
should  be  baptized  on  June  14,  1850,  and  the  Pari- 
sians impatiently  awaited  the  chosen  date.  Nor  were 
they  alone  in  their  eagerness  to  see  a  grand  fete ; 
more  than  three  hundred  thousand  persons  had 
come  for  the  same  purpose  from  the  provinces  and 
from  abroad.  The  streets  w^here  the  procession  was 
to  pass  were  thick  with  people,  when  the  great  day 
arrived.  In  front  of  Notre  Dame,  on  the  vast  square, 
high  masts  had  been  set  up,  from  which  floated  ban- 
ners bearing  the  Imperial  arms ;  the  ground  was 
covered  with  smooth,  clean,  fine  sand,  while  masses 
of  flowers  and  light  feathery  ferns  transformed  the 
usually  somewhat  austere  square  into  a  fairylike 
garden.  A  large  covered  marquise  had  been  erected 
in  front  of  the  cathedral. 

The  ceremony  w^as  to  take  place  at  six  in  the 
evening,  and  some  time  before  that  hour,  the  four 

90 


BIRTH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

thousand  g-uests  were  assembled  in  the  metropolitan 
church,  while  the  crowd  without  thickened  so  rapidly 
that,  if  the  neighbourhood  of  the  church  had  not 
been  carefully  guarded,  it  would  have  been  impos- 
sible to  force  a  passage  for  those  whose  business 
called  them  thither.  As  the  Emperor  and  Empress, 
looking  out  from  the  windows  of  the  Tuileries,  saw 
the  masses  surging  by  with  smiling  faces  and  in 
their  best  attire,  their  hearts  swelled  with  pride  at 
the  sight  of  this  noble  Parisian  populace,  and  when 
they  remembered  that  it  was  all  in  honour  of  their 
baby  son,  tears  filled  the  eyes  of  both. 

One  of  the  ladies  in  Eugenie 's  suite  thus  describes 
the  scene  in  an  unpublished  letter  written  at  the  time 
to  a  friend  living  in  the  provinces : 

"There  were  people  at  eYerj  window  along  the 
quays,  people  on  the  roofs,  on  the  chimneys  even, 
people  standing  on  trestles  along  the  road,  on  the 
parapets  by  the  Seine,  on  the  arches  of  the  bridges, 
in  every  possible  corner,  cramped  and  crushed,  but 
heedless  of  discomfort;  an  inquisitive,  sympathetic, 
innumerable  crowd,  buzzing,  swaying,  like  bees  in  a 
swarm,  thirsting  for  a  sight  which  it  knew  would 
be  magnificent,  unique,  in  fact,  on  account  of  the 
splendour  of  the  procession  and  the  great  pomp 
which  was  to  be  observed. 

"The  interior  of  Notre  Dame  was  lighted  up, 
though  the  day  w^as  still  young,  so  that  the  great 
dark  edifice  was  an  imposing  medley  of  lights  and 
shadows.  All  the  chief  towns  of  France  were  rep- 
resented by  banners  which  hung  down  the  lofty 
columns  of  the  church,  and  red  velvet  draperies 
brightened  the  scene  under  the  starry  sprinkled  ceil- 
ing and  arches.   Not  less  striking  was  the  assembly 

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MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

gathered  within  those  walls,  the  gentlemen  all  wear- 
ing bright  uniforms  and  the  ladies  in  evening  dress, 
with  lace  veils  attached  to  their  hair  and  falling  to 
the  shoulders.  Thousands  of  candles  sparkled  in  the 
nave  and  in  the  midst  of  the  blaze  was  a  platform  on 
which  were  seated,  arrayed  in  full  pontifical  vest- 
ments, the  archbishops  and  bishops  of  France. 

"From  the  Tuileries  comes  Cardinal  Patrizzi, 
the  Pope's  Legate,  in  a  coach  drawn  by  eight  horses, 
and  as  the  papal  representative,  he  is  treated  with 
the  same  ceremonial  as  would  have  been  shown  the 
Holy  Father  himself.  The  Cardinal  Archbishop  of 
Paris  and  the  Chapter  of  the  Cathedral  await  his 
arrival  at  the  door  of  Notre  Dame  and  he  is  greeted 
on  his  entrance  by  a  full  choral  rendering  of  the  im- 
posing anthem :  Tu  es  Petru^. 

''Meanwhile,  the  Place  de  la  Concorde  is  being 
rapidly  occupied  by  cavalry,  and  from  the  Tuileries 
to  the  parvis  of  Notre  Dame,  a  double  line  of 
National  Guards  and  the  Imperial  Guards  form;  but 
they  have  some  trouble  in  keeping  the  crowd  back. 
At  five  o'clock,  a  sudden  clamor  arises  and  the 
crowd  sways  excitedly;  then  the  militaiy  bands 
strike  up  and  the  procession  leaves  the  Pavilion  de 
I'Horloge  on  its  way  to  Notre  Dame,  via  the  Tuiler- 
ies gardens,  the  Rue  de  Rivoli,  the  Place  de  I'liotel 
de  Ville,  the  Pont  d'Arcole  and  Rue  d'Arcole,  and 
finally  it  reaches  the  Place  Notre  Dame. 

"The  procession  was  headed  by  the  trumpeters 
and  band  of  the  First  Carabiniers;  General  Korte 
and  his  staff;  and  squadrons,  bands  and  officers  of 
several  other  regiments.  Then  came  eight  carriages 
drawn  by  six  horses,  each  accompanied  by  two 
lackeys.   The  first  six  carriages  contained  a  lady  of 

92 


BIRTH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

the  Empress 's  household,  the  lady-in-waiting  to  the 
dowager  Grand-Duchess  of  Baden,  two  chamber- 
lains, the  grand-mistress  and  the  lady  in  waiting  of 
the  Empress,  and  the  chief  officers  of  the  Crown. 
Then  we  saw  four  postilions  preceding  the  seventh 
carriage  in  which  sat  Princess  Mathilde,  accom- 
panied by  Princess  Marie  of  Baden,  Duchess  of 
Hamilton.  The  Princess's  grand  cavalier  was  on 
horseback  to  the  right  of  the  carriage,  and  on  the 
left  was  a  Colonel  of  the  Guard.  The  eighth  car- 
riage contained  the  Grand  Duchess  of  Baden,  King 
Jerome,  Prince  Oscar  of  Sweden  and  Prince 
Xapoleon. 

"Louder  and  louder  grew  the  cheers  until,  from 
a  faint  murmur  heard  in  the  distance,  they  sounded 
at  last  like  the  roar  of  thunder  as  two  splendid  state 
coaches,  each  drawn  by  eight  horses  and  preceded 
by  six  of  the  Emperor's  postilions,  closed  the  pro- 
cession. The  first  of  these  coaches  was  the  identical 
vehicle  used  by  Napoleon  on  the  occasion  of  his 
marriage  to  Marie  Louise,  and  through  the  clear 
glass  could  be  seen  the  widow  of  Admiral  Bruat, 
Governess  of  the  Children  of  Prance,  holding  in  her 
arms  the  Prince  Imperial  half  hidden  in  an  ennine- 
lined  cloak.  Mme.  Bizot  and  Mme.  de  Brancion, 
under-governesses,  and  the  nurse  were  also  in  this 
coach.  Marshal  Canrobert,  the  Emperor's  Aide-de- 
camp, and  an  equeny  rode  on  the  right  of  the  car- 
riage, while  Marshal  Bosquet,  Adjutant-general  of 
the  Palace,  and  another  officer,  were  on  the  left. 
Behind,  followed  some  lackeys  on  foot  and  equerries 
of  the  Emperor  on  horseback. 

"Eight  beautiful  ])ay  horses,  considered  the  finest 
in  all  the  imperial  or  royal  stables  of  Europe,  were 

93 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

harnessed  to  tlie  second  state  coach,  in  which  were 
seated  the  Emperor  and  Empress.  The  coach  itself, 
enriched  with  artistic  designs  and  gilded  wheels, 
had  just  been  re-decorated  for  the  occasion.  It  was 
the  coach  which  had  been  first  used  for  the  corona- 
tion of  Charles  X. 

''The  Emperor,  who  looked  a  little  anxious  but 
was  most  gracious  to  the  populace,  was  wearing  the 
uniform  of  a  general  with  silk  stockings  and  short 
knee  breeches.  The  Empress  was  clothed  in  white 
and  wore  a  diadem  in  the  center  of  which  sparkled 
the  regent  diamond.  She  was  wreathed  in  smiles 
and  looked  handsome.  We  were  all  very  proud  of 
her.  By  the  side  of  the  coach  rode  Marshal  Bara- 
guay  d'Hilliers,  Marshal  de  Castellane,  General  de 
Lawoestine,  commander  of  the  ISTational  Guards, 
General  Fleury,  first  equerry  to  the  Emperor,  Gen- 
eral Regnaud  de  Saint  Jean  d'Angely,  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  Imperial  Guard,  and  an  aide-de-camp 
of  the  Emperor.  All  these  distinguished  soldiers  in 
their  gorgeous  uniforms  made  a  splendid  sight 
which  was  fully  appreciated  by  the  people. 

"Behind  the  royal  coach,  after  the  running 
lackeys,  rode  the  aides-de-camp  and  ordnance  offi- 
cers of  the  Emperor,  a  squadron  of  the  Cent  Gardes; 
then,  headed  by  their  colonels  and  bands,  came  two 
squadrons  of  the  Cuirassiers  of  the  Guard,  two 
squadrons  of  mounted  artillery  of  the  Guard,  and 
two  squadrons  of  the  2nd  Carabiniers,  This  choice 
body  of  troops  and  the  excellent  music  of  their 
bands  produced  a  grand  effect. 

"At  six  o'clock  the  roar  of  cannon  and  ringing  of 
bells  announced  the  arrival  of  the  procession  at  the 
doors  of  the  cathedral,  where  the  sovereigns  were 

94 


BIRTH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

met  by  Mgr.  Libour,  surrounded  by  his  clergy.  But 
just  before  this,  a  little  contretemps  happened.  So 
thickly  had  the  sand  been  sprinkled  on  the  square, 
that  the  eight  horses  were  unable  to  draw  the  heavy 
coach,  and  the  lackeys  had  to  push  the  wheels  in 
order  to  bring  it  up  to  the  door  of  Notre  Dame. 

"The  archbishop  offered  holy  water  to  the  sov- 
ereigns, who  kissed  the  cross  and  were  conducted 
beneath  a  dais  borne  by  canons  of  the  cathedral,  to 
their  prayer-desks.  A  master  of  ceremonies  then 
distributed  the  'honors'  to  the  ladies  destined  to 
bear  them.  The  Comtesse  de  Montebello  carried  the 
candle,  the  Baroness  de  Malaret  the  holy  oils,  the 
Marchioness  de  la  Tour  Maubourg  the  salt,  honors 
which  belonged  to  those  who  surrounded  the  Prince 
Imperial.  Mme.  de  Sauley  carried  the  towel,  the 
Comtesse  de  la  Bedoyere  held  the  basin,  and  the 
Comtesse  de  Rayneval  the  ewer,  honors  bestowed 
by  the  godfather  and  godmother. 

"A  platform  surrounded  by  a  baluster  and  open 
on  the  side  facing  the  nave  was  placed  in  the  center 
of  the  cathedral.  On  that  platform,  at  the  entrance 
to  the  sanctuary,  was  the  altar,  which  was  reached 
by  three  steps.  The  throne  for  the  Emperor  and 
Empress  was  opposite  the  altar,  and  it  also  was 
reached  by  three  steps.  The  font  was  midway  be- 
tween the  throne  and  the  altar.  The  baptismal  vase, 
made  of  chiselled  and  beaten  brass,  was  supposed  to 
be  the  one  brought  from  the  Holy  Land  by  Saint 
Louis. 

"All  these  arrangements  at  the  church  had  been 
carefully  supervised  by  the  Empress  herself  and 
were  particularly  gorgeous  and  imposing  and 
formed  a  perfect  counter-part  to  the  outdoor  mili- 

95 


MEMOIRS  OP  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

tar}^  display,  which  was  the  special  care  of  the 
Emperor.  This  division  of  labour  well  illustrates 
the  harmonious  way  in  wliich  our  two  excellent 
sovereigns  'pull  together.' 

"The  Cardinal  Legate  occupied  a  throne  opposite 
the  altar  and  the  throne  of  the  Emperor  and  Em- 
press. In  front  of  the  sanctuary  were  seats  for  the 
Cardinal-Archbishop  of  Paris  and  the  canons  of  the 
cathedral.  The  clergy  made  a  special  effort  to  be 
out  in  full  force,  arrayed  in  their  most  splendid 
robes,  which  added  not  a  little  to  the  general  effect. 
The  other  seats  were  for  the  Prince  Imperial,  who 
was  carried  in  the  arms  of  Mme.  Bruat,  for  the 
Grand-Duchess  of  Baden,  representing  the  Queen 
of  Sweden,  the  godmother,  for  Prince  Oscar,  King 
of  Sweden,  and  for  the  princes  and  princesses  of  the 
Emperor's  family.  I  name  only  a  few  of  the  grand 
personages  present.  The  list  is  too  long  to  give 
them  all. 

"Having  reached  their  designated  places,  the  Em- 
peror and  Empress  knelt  on  their  prayer-desks, 
while  the  Legate,  leaving  his  throne,  stepped  to  the 
foot  of  the  altar  and  intoned  the  Veni  Creator, 
which  was  immediately  taken  up  by  the  choir.  Mean- 
while, the  ladies  bearing  the  honors  deposited  the 
various  articles  on  the  tables  placed  near  the  altar 
and  which  served  as  credences. 

"When  the  Fewi  Creator  was  ended,  the  Cardinal 
Legate  proceeded  to  perform  the  baptismal  cere- 
mony. As  soon  as  this  was  completed,  the  Governess 
of  the  Children  of  France  placed  the  Prince  Im- 
perial in  the  Emperor's  arms.  Then  a  master  of 
ceremonies  stepped  to  the  front  of  the  aisle  and 
cried  three  times :  *  Long  live  the  Prince  Imperial ! ' 

96 


BIRTH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

The  Emperor  raised  his  son  aloft,  and,  with  a  loving 
and  happy  expression,  presented  him  to  the  congre- 
gation, while  the  Empress,  much  affected  and  very 
pale,  showed  deep  emotion.  Then,  while  the  grand 
music  of  the  Vivat,  composed  for  the  baptism  of 
the  King  of  Rome,  by  Le  Sueur,  filled  the  church,  a 
loud  shout  of  joy  and  welcome  broke  from  the  com- 
pact crowd,  which  evidently  went  right  to  the  heart 
0^'  both  the  Emperor  and  Empress,  for  tears 
trickled  down  their  cheeks. 

''The  Cardinal  Legate  next  intoned  the  Te  Detmi 
and  the  Domine  Salvum  Fac  Imperatorem,  after 
which  he  gave  the  Papal  blessing.  The  Archbishop 
of  Paris,  surrounded  by  the  clergy  of  Saint  Ger- 
main I'Auxerrois,  presented  the  parish  register  of 
baptisms  for  the  Emperor's  signature,  which  the 
Empress  signed  also,  with  a  trembling  hand;  and 
the  interesting  and  imposing  ceremony  was  ended. 

"Preceded  by  a  squadron  of  the  Guides,  followed 
by  cuirassiers  of  the  Guard,  a  carriage  drawn  by 
eight  horses  brought  the  little  Prince  back  to  the 
Tuileries,  by  the  quays.  I  may  add,  that  he  behaved 
himself  very  well  throughout  this  rather  long  cere- 
mony; and,  after  his  departure,  the  Archbishop  of 
Paris,  preceded  by  the  metropolitan  chapter,  recon- 
ducted the  P]mperor  and  Empress  to  the  door  of  the 
cathedral.  Hero  the  sovereigns  stepped  into  their 
grand  coach,  and  were  driven  across  the  Pont 
d'Arcole,  through  the  magnificently  decorated 
Place,  to  the  City  Hall,  whore  a  grand  banquet  was 
offered  in  the  great  dining  hall  by  the  Municipal 
Council.  Four  hundred  guests  wen;  already  gath- 
ered in  the  grand  drawing-room.  The  Emperor  and 
Empress  took  thoir  place  at  a  table  raised  above  the 

97 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

others,  surrounded  by  the  princes  and  princesses  of 
the  Bonaparte  family,  and  during  the  dinner  a  fine 
concert  was  given.  The  Empress,  in  spite  of  the 
fatigue  of  the  day,  appeared  smiling  and  radiant, 
and,  after  the  banquet,  remained  for  some  time  with 
the  Emperor  in  the  magnificently  lighted  salons. 
The  Cardinal  Legate  appeared  for  a  moment  before 
the  commencement  of  the  ball,  and  immediately 
after  his  withdrawal,  the  quadrille  of  honor  began. 
The  Emperor  opened  the  ball  mth  the  Baroness 
Haussmann,  while  the  Empress  danced  with  the 
Prefect  of  the  Seine.  Both  seemed  happy  and  con- 
tented with  the  way  in  which  everything  passed  off. 

' '  The  return  to  the  Tuilerics  was  affected  in  semi- 
State  landaus  instead  of  the  grand  coaches  used 
earlier  in  the  day,  as  the  return  was  made  at  a  more 
rapid  pace  than  that  observed  during  the  proces- 
sion to  the  cathedral.  Loud  and  continuous  cheering 
accompanied  the  sovereigns  on  their  way  to  the 
palace,  as  they  passed  through  the  brilliantly  lighted 
streets,  hung  with  flags  and  banners.  This  is,  in- 
deed, a  day  that  will  be  long  remembered  by  Paris- 
ians and  which  will  remain  more  deeply  graven  than 
any  other  in  the  heart  of  the  Empress." 

The  popular  rejoicings  and  festivities  continued 
during  several  days.  Commemorative  medals  were 
distributed  in  great  quantities  and  packets  of  sweets 
were  provided  for  the  children  of  the  public  schools. 
Numerous  pardons  were  granted  to  ciWl  and  mili- 
tary prisoners.  The  Emperor,  indeed,  made  a  great 
event  of  the  christening.  ''It  reminded  one  of  the 
grand  days  of  the  First  Empire,"  he  said  years 
afterwards.  "It  was,  of  course,  a  fine  sight,  the 
long  parade  of  gala  carriages,  with  the  coach  used 

98 


BIRTH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

for  the  coronation  of  Charles  X  at  the  head  of  the 
line."  Later,  the  Parisian  public  seemed  always  to 
take  a  peculiar  interest  in  seeing  the  imperial  infant 
drive  in  the  Bois,  in  his  nurse's  arms,  the  carriage 
being  followed  by  an  escort  of  the  Cent  Gardes.  At 
the  age  of  four,  the  Emperor  had  him  entered  in 
the  regiment  of  the  grenadiers  of  the  Gardes  and 
he  used  to  take  part  in  the  parade  in  the  Tuileries 
court-yard,  as  an  onlooker.  Adolphe  Yvon,  the 
talented  painter  of  military  life,  has  left  a  canvas, 
in  which  the  child  is  represented  in  uniform,  stand- 
ing with  three  grenadiers  w^ho  are  at  a  salute.  A 
little  later,  the  Prince  Imperial  was,  to  his  great 
delight,  made  a  corporal,  and  thoroughly  enjoyed 
practising  sword  exercises  with  his  little  playfel- 
lows, Louis  Conneau,  son  of  the  physician  who  aided 
the  future  Emperor  to  escape  from  Ham,  and  Jules 
Espinasse,  who  was  a  little  older  than  the  Prince,: 
the  son  of  the  general  who  was  killed  at  Magenta. 

One  evening  during  ''the  christening  w^eek," 
there  was  a  grand  firework  display  in  front  of  the 
Palace  of  the  Legislative  Body,  the  chief  feature  of 
which  was  the  representation  of  a  gothic  baptistery; 
and  there  w^as  also  an  illumination  of  the  Tuileries 
gardens.  The  Court  all  w^atched  from  the  win- 
dows of  the  Xavy  Department,  on  the  Place  de  la 
Concorde,  and  it  was  understood  that  the  Em- 
press should  give  the  signal  for  them  to  commence. 
The  crowd  was  so  dense  on  the  square  that  it  was 
impossible  to  pass  through,  and  the  court  party  w^as 
obliged  to  wait  till  eleven  o'clock  before  they  could 
leave  the  building  and  return  to  the  Tuileries.  The 
part  of  the  city  round  the  City  Hall  was  magnifi- 
cently illuminated  during  three  days.    The  Avenue 

99 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

Victoria  was  transformed  into  a  garden  with  foun- 
tains and  flowers  from  all  countries,  and  on  June 
16th,  the  day  of  the  Municipal  ball,  it  was  quite 
fairy-like. 

Everywhere,  during  these  fetes,  the  Emperor  and 
the  Empress  were  greeted  with  loud  cheers  and  ova- 
tions of  the  most  spontaneous  nature.  The  rejoicing 
of  the  jjeople  seemed  almost  delirious.  Tired  out  by 
the  joyous  events  of  the  week,  the  Emperor  and 
Eugenie  finally  sought  a  little  rest  at  the  palace  of 
Saint  Cloud,  where  the  interesting  ceremony  of  the 
gift  of  the  Golden  Rose  took  place  on  Thursday, 
June  19th.  During  the  mass,  which  was  celebrated 
by  Cardinal  Patrizzi,  the  Golden  Rose  was  deposited 
on  the  epistle  side  of  the  altar,  and  then  the  Legate 
took  a  seat  facing  the  Emperor  and  Empress,  when 
one  of  the  prelates  of  his  suite  read  the  pontifical 
brief  conferring  on  the  Cardinal  the  right  to  bestow 
the  rose.  Thereupon,  the  Empress  advanced  and 
the  Golden  Rose  was  presented  to  her  by  Cardinal 
Patrizzi,  with  the  usual  formula. 

The  Pope's  gift  was  in  the  form  of  a  golden  rose- 
tree  in  a  flower-pot  which  was  also  of  gold,  resting 
on  a  lapis  lazuli  pedestal.  The  two  bas-reliefs  of  the 
pedestal  represented  the  birth  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 
and  her  Presentation  in  the  Temple,  while  the  arms 
of  Pius  IX  and  Napoleon  III  were  engraved  on  the 
sides. 

After  the  ceremony,  the  Cardinal  Legate  pre- 
sented to  the  Emperor  an  admirable  piece  of  mosaic 
work  representing  St.  John  the  Baptist,  after  Guido. 
Also  the  Holy  Father  sent  to  the  Prince  Imperial  an 
enameled  reliquarj^  containing  a  relic  of  the  Holy 

100 


BIRTH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

Manger.    The  child  was  brought  to  the  Chapel  in 
order  to  receive  this  sacred  gift. 

Truly,  the  summer  of  1856  seemed  fuU  of  promise, 
for  the  country  was  then  enjoying  an  era  of  pros- 
perity and  peace,  and  the  Empire  was  evidently 
very  popular.  It  was  not  till  three  years  later  that 
this  peace  was  unfortunately  disturbed  by  the  Aus- 
trian war.  That  the  Second  Empire  was  popular  at 
this  moment  cannot  be  doubted.  The  people  of  Paris 
had  given  striking  evidence  of  this  during  the  cere- 
mony just  described,  and  from  all  parts  of  the 
nation  the  Emperor  received  many  public  and 
private  evidences  of  the  fact  that  the  provinces  were 
not  behind  the  capital  in  loyal  and  enthusiastic  sup- 
port of  the  new  regime.  So  the  young  Prince  Im- 
perial began  his  life  under  a  cloudless  sky,  and  the 
Empress  has  always  felt  that  this  was  perhaps  the 
happiest  moment  of  her  existence. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  YOUTH  OF  THE  PEINCE  IMPERIAL 

I  EECAUL,  many  cherished  memories  of  the  Prince 
Imperial's  first  communion.  His  religious  education 
for  this  important  act  was  intrusted  to  Abbe  De- 
guerry,  vicar  of  the  Madeleine,  a  very  learned  and 
venerable  prelate,  who  later  lost  his  life  in  the  Com- 
mune outbreak.  He  was  gentle  of  speech  and  per- 
suasive. The  Prince  listened  attentively  to  his 
teaching,  but  the  young  man's  questioning  spirit  led 
him  to  argue  with  his  spiritual  director,  w^ho  had  to 
convince  him  that  the  mind  cannot  grasp  all  the 
mysteries  of  the  future  life,  as  if  one  had  to  do  w^ith 
mathematics.  One  day  the  good  Abbe  told  his  pupil 
the  story  of  the  crucifixion  and  the  suffering  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin.  He  himself  was  much  moved  by  the 
narration,  and  though  the  Prince  was  very  attentive, 
he  did  not  appear  to  be  as  much  affected  as  one 
might  have  thought.  So  M.  DegTierry  said  to  him: 
^'Is  there  any  greater  cause  for  tears  than  the  pas- 
sion of  Our  Lord?"  ''Certainly  not,  M.  I'Abbe," 
replied  the  Prince,  "but  you  have  taught  me  that 
God  sees  everything,  knows  everything  and  can  do 
everything.  So  he  must  have  willed  that  Christ 
should  suffer  and  that  the  Virgin  should  suffer. 
This  thought  prevents  me  from  ci-^-ing."  Though 
the  Prince  was  disposed  to  discuss  things  which  he 
did  not  understand,  his  religious  faith  was  sincere 

102 


YOUTH  OF  THE  PEINCE  IMPERIAL 

and  real.  He  was  ever  ready  to  accept  in  the  spirit- 
ual world  what  his  more  worldly  mind  could  not 
grasp.  His  natural  piety  was  greatly  strengthened 
after  this  careful  examination,  under  the  devout 
direction  of  Abbe  Deguerry,  of  the  claims  and  tenets 
of  Christianity.  He  said  to  the  Empress  later,  re- 
ferring to  this  earlier  period  in  his  boyhood:  '^I 
fuUy  realized  the  good  example  I  could  set  and  what 
were  my  religious  duties.  I  even  then  perceived 
what  a  great  consolation  faith  brings  to  mankind 
and  what  a  vast  source  of  strength  it  is  by  govern- 
ments. The  fact  that  I  was  probably  to  be  the  head 
of  a  nation  sufficed  to  make  me  an  earnest  Christian. ' ' 
The  Prince  Imperial  communed  for  the  first  time 
on  May  7,  1868,  in  the  Tuileries  chapel,  which  was 
decorated  with  crimson  velvet  hangings  fringed 
with  gold  and  was  delightfully  scented  with  the 
odor  of  new-cut  flowers.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that 
the  perfume  of  that  ceremony  still  clings  in  Eu- 
genie's memory,  and  on  more  than  one  occasion 
since  then,  sometimes  when  she  has  been  driving 
through  the  country  lanes  of  beautiful  England,  and 
sometimes  in  some  public  hall  or  private  drawing- 
room,  the  same  flower  or  some  similar  perfume  has 
brought  back  the  odor  of  that  little  chapel  and  with 
it  the  memory  of  that  touching  ceremony,  nearly  all 
of  the  actors  in  which  have  now  passed  on  into  the 
unseen  world.  The  Emperor  was,  of  course,  present, 
accompanied  by  all  the  princes  and  princesses  of 
the  house  of  Bonaparte.  In  the  gallery  were  the  eld- 
est son  of  Prince  Napoleon  and  the  young  com- 
panions of  the  communicant.  In  the  center  of  the 
choir-sanctuary,  his  head  bowed  and  his  eyes  fixed 
on  the  altar,  with  his  governor  on  one  side  and  Abbe 

103 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

Deguerry  on  the  other,  sat  the  young  Prince,  solemn 
and  dignified.  The  eloquent  and  touching  words 
pronounced  on  this  occasion  by  Archbishop  Darboy, 
I  have  never  forgotten.  At  one  point  he  stopped  in 
his  address,  when  the  Prince  was  blessed  by  the 
Bishop  of  Adras,  and,  advancing  to  the  first  step  of 
the  altar,  he  knelt  reverently,  while  Prince  Joachim 
Murat  and  General  Frossard,  aided  by  two  priests, 
spread  the  communion  nax)kin  before  him.  The  ten- 
der-hearted boy  was  now  weeping  from  emotion. 
Then  the  Arclibishop  continued  his  remarks  and  be- 
fore he  ended,  nearly  everybody  present  was  sob- 
bing. The  Empress  was  deeply  affected.  At  five 
o'clock  that  same  day  the  Prince  received  the  sacra- 
ment of  confirmation  at  the  hands  of  the  Arch- 
bishop, in  the  presence  of  those  who  had  partici- 
pated in  the  imposing  ceremonies  of  the  morning. 
This  was  a  red-letter  day  in  the  spiritual  life  of  the 
Prince  Imperial,  and  the  moral  principles  there 
enunciated  were  his  guide  throughout  his  short  but 
noble  existence. 

Another  prelate  saw  fit,  on  the  occasion  of  the 
Prince  Imperial's  first  communion,  to  pronounce  a 
sermon.  This  intervention  in  the  spiritual  affairs  of 
the  Imperial  family  seemed  all  the  more  out  of  place 
because  this  same  priest  meddled  in  their  political 
affairs  with  far  less  justice  and  impartiality.  I  refer 
to  Bishop  Dupanloup  of  C)rleans,  wlio  did  not  always 
speak  so  kindly  of  the  Bonapartes  and  the  regime 
as  he  might  have  done.  It  was  shortly  after  the 
Tuileries  ceremony  that  the  Empress  was  present  at 
Orleans  to  take  part  in  the  festivities  in  honor  of 
Jeanne  d'Arc,  and  then  it  was  that  the  Bishop  seized 
the  occasion  to  compliment  her  and  the  Prince.   His 

104 


YOUTH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

words  called  forth  considerable  comment  at  the 
time,  and  later — especially  later.  No  doubt  Bishop 
Dupanloup  was  sincere  when  he  declared  that  he 
hoped  the  Empress  would  never  "shed  other  tears 
than  those  called  forth  by  pious  emotion."  It  is 
somewhat  difficult,  however,  to  reconcile  the  prayers 
addressed  by  him  to  Heaven  in  favor  of  the  heir  to 
the  throne  with  the  often  hostile  attitude  which  he 
assumed  towards  the  Second  Empire,  its  leaders 
and  its  policies.  The  Empress  was  one  of  the  first 
to  understand  that  the  rights  and  claims  of  the 
Church  should  hold  first  place  in  the  prelate's  mind 
and  she  could  excuse,  in  a  measure,  his  discontent 
at  certain  acts  of  the  Imperial  government,  such  as 
that  concerning  the  Roman  question.  But  instead  of 
joining  the  enemies  of  the  Empire  and  making  com- 
mon cause  with  those  who  were  trying  to  destroy  it, 
why  did  he  not  strive  to  accomplish  his  ends  in  other 
ways  ?  The  Emperor  spoke  rightly  when  he  said  one 
day:  "Speaking  with  all  due  impartiality,  I  think  it 
fair  to  say  that  Dupanloup 's  political  conduct  was 
'varied  and  undulating,'  as  some  one  has  well  re- 
marked. It  is  true  that  he  would  shoot  from  one 
extreme  to  the  other  with  the  agility  of  an  acrobat. 
"While  one  cannot  but  admire  his  talent  and  his 
moral  courage,  and  admit  the  justice  of  many  of  his 
ideas,  one  must  draw  back  from  some  of  his  preach- 
ments and  squarely  pronounce  them  dangerous  and 
leading  to  division  rather  than  to  concord." 

AVliile  instructing  the  young  Prince  in  prepara- 
tion for  his  first  communion.  Abbe  Degiierry  had, 
without  knowing  it, prepared  the  way  to  a  conversion. 
Miss  Shaw,  the  devoted  governess  of  the  Prince,  had 
been  present  at  the  lessons  given  by  the  curate  of 

105 


MEMOIRS  OF  TPIE  EMPEESS  EUGENIE 

the  Madeleine,  and  although  she  was  an  Anglican, 
she  never  failed  to  help  the  Prince  to  accomplish  his 
religious  duties,  and  especially  his  daily  prayers. 
Two  days  after  this  first  communion  she  went  to  the 
Madeleine,  told  the  cure  that  she  had  been  led  to 
think  very  seriously  about  religious  matters  and 
now  desired  to  become  a  Catholic.  The  Empress  was 
much  pleased  by  this  spontaneous  act  of  Miss 
Shaw's  and  thus  became  more  than  ever  attached  to 
this  excellent  young  Avoman  who  did  so  much  for 
the  English  education  of  the  Prince  Imperial  and 
who  thereafter  aided  greatly  in  strengthening  his 
religious  convictions,  which,  however,  were  always 
firm  and  solid.  It  may  be  added  that  the  Prince  was 
not  at  all  influenced  by  political  or  dynastic  reasons 
in  becoming  and  remaining  a  firm  believer  in  the 
doctrines  of  Christianity,  especially  as  set  forth  in 
the  tenets  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  He  was  very 
thoughtful  by  nature,  and  often  spoke,  even  in  his 
earliest  j'outh,  of  the  great  mystery  of  life,  and 
always  declaring  that  he,  for  his  part,  could  find  no 
satisfactory  explanation  of  it  except  in  the  divine 
revelation  of  Jesus. 

It  may  be  found  interesting  if  I  describe  the 
apartments  of  the  young  Prince  at  the  Tuileries.  In 
a  white  and  gold  salon  he  took  his  lessons  and  re- 
ceived his  friends  on  Thursdays  and  Sundays. 
Through  the  windows  could  be  seen  the  tip  of  the 
sentinel's  bayonet  and  the  white  horse-tail  of  the 
helmet  of  one  of  the  Cent  Gardes,  as  they  stood  on 
duty;  while  further  away  was  visible  the  Place  du 
Carrousel,  with  its  triumphal  arch,  as  it  stands  to- 
day, and  the  wide  Louvre  square  beyond.   The  floor 

106 


YOUTH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

of  the  room  was  covered  with  a  soft  white  carpet  of 
a  flowered  pattern.  On  the  walls  hung  a  portrait  of 
the  Empress  by  Winterhalter,  a  lithograph  of  the 
Emperor,  an  engraving  of  the  Empress'  mother  and 
pictures  of  one  of  the  Emperor's  fovorite  horses, 
of  "Bouton  d'Or,"  the  Prince's  pony,  and  of  his 
spaniels  Finette  and  Finaud.  On  the  mantelpiece 
was  a  clock  with  a  circular  face,  on  which  the  hours 
were  indicated  by  the  horizontal  rotation  of  a  blue 
and  gold  hemisphere.  On  the  left  was  a  piano,  fitted 
with  a  mechanical  player,  which,  on  rainy  days, 
when  the  Prince  could  not  go  out  of  doors  with  his 
companions,  w^ould  be  set  going  after  the  four 
o'clock  meal,  much  to  the  pleasure  of  the  little 
circle.  This  was  the  moment  when  the  Empress 
generally  used  to  come  to  see  him  and  his  friends. 
Miss  Shaw,  the  English  governess,  says  she  remem- 
bers that  Eugenie  sometimes  would  put  her  hand 
down  under  the  collar  of  his  jacket  and  say:  ''How 
warm  you  are,  Louis.  Keep  quiet  now  or  you  are 
sure  to  take  cold."  I  do  not  recall  this  habit,  but  it 
is  highly  probable  that  the  Empress  would  act  in 
this  way,  for  the  young  Prince  put  his  whole  heart 
into  his  play,  and  the  result  was  that  he  was  often 
over-excited. 

In  this  same  room,  in  a  little  book-case,  all  the 
Prince 's  books  were  most  carefully  arranged.  He,  of 
course,  had  no  finely  bound  or  showy  volumes,  with 
bright  covers  and  gilt  edges.  They  were  well- 
thumbed  school  books,  with  broken  corners  and 
spots  on  them.  The  boy  studied  seriously  and  his 
tools  showed  it.  On  either  side  of  the  inkstand  were 
two  little  gold  busts  and  two  ivory  miniatures  of  the 
Emperor  and  the  Empress.    A  paper-weight,,  I  re* 

107 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPEESS  EUGENIE 

member,  represented  Napoleon  I  sitting  astride  of  a 
chair.    The  Prince  always  treasured  this  object. 

The  Prince's  bed-room  had  liglit  blue  satin  on  the 
walls  and  a  ceiling  frescoed  in  oil.  The  bed  was  an 
excellent  example  of  marquetry  decorated  with 
bronze  gilt  ornaments.  In  the  recess  of  the  room 
was  a  picture  of  Hugues  Merle,  representing 
Religion  protecting  childhood,  a  gift  to  the  Prince 
from  the  Due  de  Morny.  A  palm  branch  which  had 
been  blessed  by  the  Pope  was  fastened  to  the  pie- 
ture-frame.  Attached  to  or  worked  into  the  lining  of 
the  bed  were  several  sacred  pictures,  a  silver  cross, 
a  large  heart  in  old  enamel  and  a  gold  medallion  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin.  I  often  thought  of  these  sacred 
images  of  his  early  childhood,  when,  on  his  manl> 
young  body,  were  found  the  pious  amulets  which 
had  been  spared  by  the  hands  of  his  savage  mur- 
derers. On  the  walls  of  the  room  were  hung  some 
photographs  of  the  Prince's  boy-friends. 

Next  to  this  bed-room  was  the  play-room,  filled 
with  toys  of  all  sorts.  I  recall  rocking-horses,  trum- 
pets, drmns,  two  miniature  cannons  broU;'>ht  from 
China,  tin  soldiers  and  china  soldiers,  and  last,  but 
not  least,  a  magic-lantern,  which  was  one  of  tlie 
boy's  delights. 

The  study  and  work-room  contained  maps  hung 
on  the  walls,  drawing  boards,  drawing  paper  cov- 
ered with  rough  sketches  or  finished  work,  a  partly 
completed  bust  of  M.  Monnier,  the  Prince's  tutor, 
made  by  the  Prince  w]nle  he  was  sitting  for  Car- 
peaux's  bust. 

The  Prince  Imperial's  day  was  carefully  ar- 
ranged. He  rose  at  seven  o'clock,  dressed,  took  his 
chocolate   and   then   came  to   the   Empress'   room, 

108 


YOUTH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

where  he  remained  for  a  short  time,  while  they 
talked  over  the  day's  program.  Next,  the  child 
would  go  and  say  good-morning  to  his  father.  Then 
he  took  a  walk  in  the  private  garden  of  the  Tuileries, 
the  portion  w^hich  now  lies  between  the  Rue  des 
Tuileries  and  the  main  part  of  the  Jardin  des 
Tuileries  and  which  is  at  present  also  public.  Two 
full  hours  of  study  followed.  Lunch  occurred  at  half 
past  eleven.  Later,  came  gymnastics,  fencing,  riding 
and  a  walk  with  his  tutor,  who  also  conducted 
studies  till  dinner  time.  M.  Monnier  once  said  to 
me:  ''The  Prince  Imperial  worked  perseveringly 
and  eagerly.  He  delighted  in  study  and  was  fond  of 
inquir}%  meditation  and  discussion.  His  mind  was 
seriously  bent,  but  the  intellectual  tension  was 
counterbalanced  by  the  ardor  he  brought  to  rec- 
reation, games  and  exercise."  Before  retiring,  he 
again  took  some  exercise,  so  that  I  remarked  that 
his  rest  was  always  calm  and  refreshing.  Just  be- 
fore dinner,  he  saw  his  father  and  mother  again. 

Thursdays  and  Sundays  were  the  Prince  Imper- 
ial's holidays,  which  he  spent  in  vigorous  games,  in 
long  walks  or  in  exercise  on  the  orangery  terrace  at 
Saint  Cloud.  His  boy-companions  were  generally 
the  young  Conneau,  who  scarcely  ever  left  him, 
Espinasse,  Joachim  Murat,  my  brother  and  I,  the 
two  Corvisarts,  Jean  de  Persigny  and  sometimes 
Jean  de  la  Bedoyere  and  the  two  de  la  Poezes,  who 
came  to  spend  the  day  with  him.  The  boys  studied 
and  played  together,  and  just  before  afternoon  tea, 
M.  Monnier  used  to  give  them  all  a  dictation.  Often 
the  Prince  dined  with  liis  little  friends  in  his  dining- 
room  on  the  ground  floor  of  the  Saint  Cloud  castle, 
when  the  bill  of  fare  was  very  simple — a  soup,  roast 

109 


MEMOIIJS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

meat  Tvath  potatoes,  roast  cliicken,  spinach  or  chic- 
ory, and  stewed  fruit  or  a  rice  pudding  for  desert. 

When  the  Prince  Imperial  was  somewhat  older, 
and  had  a  governor  and  aides-de-camp,  he  dined  on 
Thursdays  and  Sundays  with  his  companions  in  the 
company  of  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress.  After 
dinner,  the  young  people  would  play  in  the  Throne 
Room,  which  opened  from  the  White  Drawing- 
room,  where  the  court  sat.  The  Emperor  used  to 
take  much  interest  in  the  games  of  the  children. 
The  Empress  was  always  worried  at  seeing  the 
Prince  get  so  hot  and  excited,  as  was  always  the 
case  on  these  occasions.  But  it  was  very  hard  to  get 
him  to  stop  and  rest.  At  about  half  past  nine  the 
Prince  would  retire  to  his  own  apartments  and  go 
to  bed. 

When  General  Frossard  was  appointed  governor 
of  the  Prince  Imperial,  the  whole  system  of  his 
instruction  was  altered.  M.  Monnier,  his  preceptor, 
was  replaced  by  M.  Filon,  a  repetent,  whose  duty 
was  more  to  see  that  he  learned  the  tasks  set  by 
others  than  to  give  lessons  himself.  The  Prince  fol- 
lowed at  home  the  curriculum  of  the  state  schools 
and  his  teachers  were  selected  from  these  schools, 
several  of  wiiom,  like  ^L  Lavisse,  to-day  a  member 
of  the  French  Academy,  who  taught  him  history, 
became  well  known  later.  M.  Filon,  who  w^as  in  con- 
stant contact  with  the  lad,  had  a  great  and  salutary 
influence  over  him.  He  quickly  gained  the  confidence 
of  the  Prince,  and  being  young  and  of  pleasing  ap- 
pearance, was  a  delightful  member  of  the  household. 
The  Prince  would  sometimes  meet  wdth  his  fellow- 
students  on  festive  occasions  and  at  annual  com- 
mencements. 

110 


YOUTH  OF  THE  PEINCE  IMPERIAL 

The  Prince's  natural,  generous,  and  charitable 
character  began  to  develop  at  this  period  and  M. 
Filon  encouraged  this  tendency  in  his  disposition. 
It  was  a  customary  habit  to  give  him  little  sums  of 
money  from  time  to  time,  which  he  put  aside  for 
charity.  Many  instances  of  his  kindness  to  the  poor 
are  given,  and  I  particularly  recall  this  one.  I 
noticed  him  playing  one  day  with  his  boy  friends  in 
the  private  garden  of  the  Tuileries,  when  he  saw, 
through  the  paling,  a  one-legged  veteran  in  the 
street.  Immediately  he  hurried  otf  for  his  savings, 
and  emptied  all  he  had  into  the  pocket  of  the  old 
soldier.  Again,  having  heard,  while  at  the  court  at 
Compiegne,  that  there  was  in  the  forest  a  very  old 
woman  picking  up  dead  w^ood  for  jEiring,  and  his 
store  of  charity  money  being  exhausted,  he  passed 
round  a  box  among  the  guests  at  the  castle  and  soon 
had  a  neat  little  sum  for  the  aged  wood-gatherer. 
Every  one  was,  of  course,  ready  to  give,  and  gold 
pieces  found  their  way  into  the  box.  While  this  col- 
lection was  going  on,  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress 
entered  the  drawing-room.  They  gently  stopped  the 
proceeding,  explaining  that  guests  should  not  be 
asked  to  aid  the  host  in  his  works  of  charity.  The 
child  quickly  saw  the  indelicacy  of  his  action,  re- 
turned the  alms  and  was  fully  consoled  when  his 
jjarents  gave  him  a  much  larger  sum  for  his  worthy 
protegee. 

I  recall  a  striking  example  of  the  Prince  Imper- 
ial's courage  and  presence  of  mind,  even  when  he 
was  a  mere  child.  It  happened,  before  the  war,  dur- 
ing one  of  the  sojourns  at  Biarritz.  One  October 
day  we  embarked  on  the  Chamois,  intending  to  go  to 
Fontarabia,  and  to  stop  at  Saint  Jean  de  Luz  on 

111 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

our  way  back,  whence  we  were  to  drive  to  the  ViUa 
Eugenie.  The  first  portion  of  the  program  was 
accomplished  in  most  magnificent  weather;  but  sud- 
denly, just  as  we  were  leaving  the  Spanish  coast,  the 
wind  changed,  the  sea  became  very  rough,  and  the 
little  ship,  beaten  back  by  heavy  waves,  could  make 
but  little  progress.  It  was  late  at  night  before  we 
sighted  Saint  Jean  de  Luz,  when  it  was  found  im- 
possible to  enter  the  harbor  and  we  were  advised 
to  remain  on  board  till  morning.  But  the  Empress 
knew  the  Emperor  w^ould  be  ver\^  anxious  about  us, 
and  so  she  insisted  that  we  land  that  night.  Con- 
sequently, two  open  row  boats  were  lowered.  The 
first,  in  which  were  some  of  the  suite,  reached  land 
without  much  trouble,  notwithstanding  the  rough- 
ness of  the  water.  But  the  second  boat,  which  car- 
ried the  Prince,  Admiral  Jurien  de  la  Graviere  and 
the  Empress,  struck  a  rock  with  such  force  that  the 
pilot  was  thro^\^l  into  the  sea.  It  w^as  feared  that  the 
frail  boat  might  sink,  so  that  it  was  necessary  to 
act  promptly;  consequently,  the  admiral,  seizing  the 
Prince  by  the  hand,  exclaimed :  * '  Now  we  must  jump 
for  the  rock!"  Of  course  the  Empress  was  very 
much  frightened  lest  the  child  should  miss  his  foot- 
ing and  be  crushed  between  the  rock  and  the  boat. 
But  the  boy  called  out  bravely:  "I'm  not  afraid, 
mother;  my  name  is  Napoleon!"  Both  reached  the 
rock  safely  and  greatly  relieved  the  Empress'  mind. 
The  sea  now  growing  somewhat  cahner,  the  crew 
finally  succeeded  in  landing  her  also.  When  we  at 
length  reached  the  Villa,  we  found  the  whole  house- 
hold wearing  an  anxious  face.  In  the  evening,  the 
Emperor  scolded  the  P^mpress  a  little,  and  the  good 
admiral,    whose    orders    had    been    disregarded — 

112 


YOUTH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

otherwise  this  incident  would  not  have  happened — 
was  severely  reprimanded. 

During  the  year  1866,  malicious  rumors  were 
spread  through  the  country  concerning  the  health 
of  the  Prince  Imperial.  Hints  were  dropped,  mys- 
teriously at  first  and  in  out  of  the  way  places,  then 
in  the  editors'  rooms  of  the  Opposition  papers,  in 
certain  royalist  drawing-rooms,  and  among  the  par- 
liamentary groups,  to  the  effect  that  the  Prince  Im- 
perial was  affected  with  scrofula,  rickets,  or  some 
hereditary  disease  which  marked  the  degeneracy  of 
a  dying  race.  Xo  ironical  or  cruel  word  was  spared 
by  the  enemies  of  the  Empire,  when  it  was  known 
that  the  Imperial  child  lay  for  several  months  on  a 
bed  of  suffering.  None  took  the  trouble  to  enquire 
into  the  real  cause  of  his  illness,  and  all  preferred  to 
scoff  at  the  constitution  of  the  heir  to  the  throne. 
On  the  contrary,  however,  the  Prince  had  an  excel- 
lent constitution  and  possessed  a  thoroughly  healthy 
system,  which  was,  moreover,  maintained  in  good 
condition  by  excellent  hygienic  surroundings,  and  by 
all  the  exercise  possible  with  due  regard  to  his  age 
and  to  the  pursuance  of  his  studies,  which  were 
already  somewhat  arduous. 

He  was  quick,  vivacious,  and  clever  at  all  exer- 
cises; a  good  horseman,  bold  in  obstacle  races,  and 
fond  of  following  the  hunt  at  Compiegiie.  His  rid- 
ing master,  M.  Bachon,  an  excellent  native  of  Gas- 
cony,  succeeded  in  amusing  the  child  while  initiating 
him  into  the  difficulties  of  the  equestrian  art.  There 
was  no  need  to  teach  him  courage,  however,  for  the 
young  Prince  was  already  brave  to  foolhardiness. 
He  was  bom  with  a  true  military  instinct,  and  had 

113 


MEMOIRS  OP  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

a  real  passion  for  everything  that  related  to  the 
army.  He  was  clever  at  fencing,  and  loved  gymnas- 
tics above  everything.  A  moment  of  absent-minded- 
ness while  on  the  trapeze  was,  in  fact,  the  cause  of 
the  terrible  accident  which  placed  his  life  in  jeop- 
ardy, and  gave  rise  to  the  mischievous  insinuations 
just  referred  to. 

The  site  where  the  Prince's  gymnasium  stood  can 
still  be  seen  in  the  old  park  of  Saint  Cloud,  near  the 
Bassin  des  Trois  Bouillons,  at  the  far  end  of  the 
Allee  des  Goulottes.  This  little  shaded  circus  had 
been  specially  transformed  into  a  place  for  recrea- 
tion. When  there  was  not  sufficient  time  to  go  to 
the  Trocadero  Garden  or  the  Chinese  Kiosque,  both 
of  which  were  in  the  Saint  Cloud  park,  the  Prince 
played  with  his  little  boy  friends  in  this  spot.  They 
would  hasten  to  the  Allee  des  Goulottes  and  amuse 
themselves  with  bow  and  arrow,  shooting  at  artificial 
pigeons,  or  exercising  on  the  parallel  bars  and  the 
other  apparatus  of  the  gymnasium.  Sometimes  the 
little  miniature  railway  would  have  their  preference. 

This  railroad,  by  the  way,  was  laid  out  in  the  form 
of  a  figure  eight.  Its  diameter  was  something  over 
six  yards  and  it  was  furnished  with  everything  that 
a  well-constructed  line  can  have — such  as  signals 
and  switches,  which  were  most  artistically  made, 
and  even  passenger  and  goods  stations.  The  train, 
modeled  after  the  imperial  train,  was  composed  of 
a  locomotive  and  several  cars,  the  latter  containing 
drawing-rooms,  a  dining-room,  and  upholstered  bed- 
rooms. The  locomotive  was  worked  by  a  very  strong 
spring.  The  most  remarkable  thing  about  the  train 
was  that  the  axles  were  fitted  into  sliding  journals 
in  such  a  manner  that  very  short  curves  could  be 

114 


YOUTH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

made,  thus  avoiding  the  necessity  of  additional 
wheels  like  those  which  were  used  on  the  old  railway 
that  ran  between  Sceaux  and  Paris,  It  is  not  a  mat- 
ter of  surprise  that  the  mainspring  was  frequently 
broken  or  strained,  for  the  Prince  and  his  compan- 
ions usually  considered  that  the  best  method  of 
winding  up  the  machinery  was  to  sit  on  the  loco- 
motive and  make  it  work  backwards. 

One  hot  day  in  July,  shortly  after  luncheon,  the 
Prince  was  alone  at  his  trapeze  while  his  tutor,  M. 
Monnier,  seated  some  little  distance  away,  was  com- 
pletely absorbed  in  a  book,  the  child  thus  being  left 
quite  to  his  own  devices.  This  lack  of  attention  on 
the  part  of  the  tutor  was  a  source  of  danger  to  the 
Prince,  who  was  always  over-bold,  and  the  very 
knowledge  that  there  was  a  risk  anywhere  was  a 
sufficient  incentive  to  make  him  wish  to  confront  it. 
On  this  occasion  a  rather  bad  fall  was  the  result, 
though  he  suffered  no  serious  injury  from  it. 

Here  is  another  example  of  the  rather  dare-devil 
spirit  of  the  boy.  One  day  on  returning  from  a  ride, 
he  got  doAvn  from  his  horse  in  the  Tuileries  court- 
yard, and  then  took  it  into  his  head,  while  his  tutor 
was  talking  with  a  third  person,  to  climb  up  to  the 
balcony  of  the  Salle  des  Marechaux,  clinging  to  the 
face  of  the  wall  by  the  help  of  the  projecting 
stones.  M.  Monnier,  looking  up  at  this  moment, 
realized  the  danger,  sx)oke  gently  to  the  Prince  and 
persuaded  him  to  come  down  by  telling  him  that  the 
guard  was  watching  him,  and  that  his  behavior  was 
not  becoming. 

But  the  accident  which  caused  his  illness  was  not 
due  to  any  lack  of  care  on  the  part  of  tutor  or  serv- 
ants.    The   Prince   was    standing   on   the    trapeze, 

115 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

.swinging  quietly,  when  he  saw  the  Empress,  driving 
in  her  pony-chaise,  coming  towards  him.  *'Maman! 
maman!"  he  cried,  ''see  how  clever  I  am  on  the 
trapeze ! ' '  While  saying  this,  he  slid  his  hands  down 
the  cords,  and  holding  on  by  his  feet  to  the  two 
angles  of  the  trapeze,  he  swung  himself  forward  and 
back,  head  do^\iiwards.  Suddenly,  his  feet  slipped 
and  he  fell  sideways  to  the  ground.  The  Empress 
was,  of  course,  greatly  frightened  when  she  did  not 
see  him  rise,  and  the  attendants,  hurrying  to  him, 
found  he  had  lost  consciousness.  AVhat  had  hap- 
pened? We  asked  ourselves  with  deep  anxiety 
whether  there  was  congestion  due  to  the  sudden  in- 
terruption of  digestion,  a  torn  muscle  or  a  broken 
bone?  Apparently,  there  was  nothing  serious;  for 
when  Dr.  Corvisart,  w^hom  the  Empress  herself 
hastened  to  fetch,  arrived,  the  Prince  had  regained 
consciousness  and  declared  that  he  had  no  bones 
broken  and  felt  no  pain  whatever.  Though  out- 
wardly no  harm  was  done,  there  was  evidently  some 
internal  injury.  But  this  was  discovered  only  in 
March  when  the  Prince,  unable  to  hide  his  sufferings 
any  longer,  began  to  limp.  But  not  wishing  to  alarm 
his  father  and  mother,  he  forced  himself  to  appear 
brighter  than  usual,  and  only  half  admitted  that  he 
was  in  pain,  until  at  last  the  effort  of  walking  be- 
came too  great  for  him.  The  Empress  was  indeed 
considerably  alarmed.  She  had  the  child  im- 
mediately put  to  bed,  and  a  consultation  was  held 
by  Drs.  Nelaton  and  Barther,  whicli  revealed  the 
nature  of  the  malady.  It  was  found  that  a  deep- 
seated  abscess  had  formed,  and  a  surgical  operation 
became  imperative.  At  length  it  was  officially  an- 
nounced that  the  Prince  was  better,  and  the  work- 

116 


YOUTH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

men  at  the  Trocadero — the  garden  on  the  high  ter- 
race just  north  of  the  castle  of  those  days — prepared 
a  novel  kind  of  festival  for  the  anniversary  of  March 
16th,  the  Prince's  birthday.  In  the  meanwhile,  it 
was  announced  that  a  children's  ball  which  the 
Grand  Equerry  was  to  give  in  honor  of  the  Prince 
had  been  postponed ;  so,  when  it  was  known  that  the 
Emperor  and  Empress  appeared  on  the  16th  in  the 
Trocadero  without  the  Prince  Imperial,  public  anxi- 
ety became  general;  and,  when  with  the  cry  ol* 
*'Vive  le  Prince  Imperial,"  the  workmen  filed  past, 
the  imperial  couple  made  every  effort  to  hide  their 
uneasiness  concerning  their  son. 

The  first  operation  was  not  entirely  successful 
and  the  doctors  decided  to  make  another  effort.  The 
Prince,  forgetful  of  his  own  pain,  and  thinking  only 
of  the  anxious  hours  his  mother  had  spent  lately, 
begged  that  she  might  be  kept  in  ignorance  of  the 
surgeons'  decision.  He  refused  to  be  chloroformed, 
and  this  boy,  who  had  only  just  turned  twelve, 
astounded  the  surgeons  by  his  calm  courage. 

Rumors  unfriendly  to  the  regime  were  spread 
among  the  people,  and  the  Prince's  illness  was  ex- 
aggerated at  the  veiy  time  when  the  danger  had 
begun  to  abate.  But  the  Empress  insisted  on  the 
public's  being  correctly  informed,  and  reassuring 
notices  appeared  in  tke  press.  The  general  uneasi- 
ness revived,  however,  w^hen  it  was  admitted  that 
the  Prince,  though  cured,  was  not  considered  to  be 
sufficiently  strong  to  accompany  his  parents  on  the 
opening  day  of  the  international  exhibition,  April 
1,  1867. 

The  republicans  and  the  other  enemies  of  the 
Second  Empire  made  all  the  political  capital  they 

117 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPEESS  EUGENIE 

could  out  of  this  incident  which  would  have  passed 
almost  unnoticed  under  ordinary  circumstances. 
But  all  these  unscrupulous  agitators  knew  that 
Napoleon  III  without  an  heir,  or  with  an  heir  with 
a  sickly  constitution,  was  lessened  in  the  eyes  not 
only  of  the  common  people,  but  in  the  world  of 
business,  where  a  solid  government,  especially  in 
France,  is  so  necessary  for  the  progress  of  trade 
and  industry.  So  we  always  watched  over  the  Prince 
with  the  greatest  solicitude,  not  only  because  of  our 
natural  love  for  him,  but  in  the  interest  of  France. 
If  he  had  lived  and  come  to  the  throne,  I  feel  sure 
that  the  world  would  have  certainly  recognized  in 
him  a  strong  and  enlightened  ruler. 

It  was  decided  in  the  early  summer  of  1867  that 
the  Prince  should  be  taken  to  Saint  Cloud,  where  the 
air  was  better  than  at  the  Tuileries.  So  he  was 
carried  there  on  a  camp-bedstead,  accompanied  by 
the  Emperor  and  the  Empress.  Instead  of  the 
apartment  on  the  ground  floor  which  he  had  always 
occupied  heretofore,  he  was  installed  in  a  suite  on 
the  second  floor,  which  was  considered  more  healthy. 
Nearly  every  day  the  Empress  drove  over  from 
Paris  to  see  him,  and  she  saw  that  the  little  invalid 
should  be  surrounded  with  every  mark  of  tender- 
ness. At  Saint  Cloud  ho  immediately  began  to  make 
rapid  progress  in  a  general  building  up.  There  the 
Prince  heard  the  echoes  of  the  fetes  given  in  honor 
of  all  the  foreign  sovereigns  who  visited  the  Exhibi- 
tion. It  was  one  of  his  fondest  amusements  to  wit- 
ness from  afar  these  festivities,  which  sometimes 
took  the  shape  of  fireworks.  He  also  long  remem- 
bered the  distinguished  personages  whom  he  met  at 
this    period.     One   after   another   of   the   crowned 

118 


YOUTH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

guests  of  the  Emperor  stopped  at  Saint  Cloud  either 
on  their  way  to  Versailles  or  when  coming  back  from 
that  town. 

In  June,  1867,  a  few  days  after  the  attempt  made 
by  Berezowski  on  the  life  of  the  King  of  Prussia 
and  the  Emperor  Alexander,  they  came  to  the  pal- 
ace. The  post-chaise  stopped  before  the  Pavilion  de 
Valois,  where  the  relay  horses  were  waiting.  I  well 
remember,  that,  on  this  occasion,  the  Emperor,  the 
King  of  Prussia  and  the  Emperor  Alexander  were 
on  the  front  seat,  and  the  Empress,  a  court-lady  and 
Count  Bismarck  were  on  the  back  seat.  While  the 
horses  were  being  changed — a  very  rapid  operation 
in  the  Emjjeror's  stables — word  was  sent  to  General 
Frossard  to  bring  the  Prince  Imperial,  in  order  that 
he  might  be  presented  to  the  royal  visitors.  In  a 
few  moments  the  boy  appeared,  and  advanced 
toward  the  carriage,  limping  slightly.  Helped  by 
General  Frossard,  he  mounted  the  step,  when  the 
Emperor  of  Russia  bent  over  and,  raising  the  child 
in  his  arms,  kissed  hiril  affectionately  on  both 
cheeks.  More  reserved.  King  William  merely  shook 
hands  with  him.  The  Czar  then  lifted  him  up  a 
second  time,  and  passed  him  over  the  hand  bar  so 
that  he  might  kiss  the  Empress,  who  was  much 
moved  by  this  touching  scene  and  never  forgot  it. 
Thereupon  the  King  of  Prussia  turned  to  take  an- 
other good  look  at  the  Prince,  and  Bismarck  also 
intently  scanned  the  child,  while  a  smile,  which  he 
sought  to  render  as  gracious  as  possible,  was  on  his 
lips.  He  seemed  trying  to  read  the  future  in  store 
for  the  Imperial  boy.  The  spontaneous  action  of  the 
Czar  on  this  occasion,  the  graceful  bearing  of  the 
heir  to  the  throne  of  France,  and  the  German  Chan- 

119 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

cellor's  expression  are  things  which  the  Emperor 
and  the  Empress  sometimes  referred  to  in  after 
years,  and  the  recollection  of  the  memorable  scene 
was  vividly  retained  by  all  the  members  of  the 
Court  who  witnessed  it. 

A  few  days  later,  General  Frossard  said  to  the 
Empress  : 

' '  When  the  Prince  and  I  were  walking  back  to  his 
apartments  after  this  presentation  he  remarked  to 
me  in  a  very  earnest  tone : 

' '  '  Well,  when  I  see  these  great  rulers,  I  feel  that 
I  have  much  to  accomplish  in  order  to  fit  myself 
properly  to  do  what  they  are  doing.  Do  you  really 
think,  General,  that  I  can  some  day  be  able  enough 
to  govern  such  a  grand  country  as  this ! ' 

'^  '^^^ly,  certainly,  and  why  not?'    I  inquired. 

''  'Because  they  must  know  so  much.' 

^'  'But  years  and  your  books  will  make  you  like 
them. ' 

'  *  *  Then,  I  will  pitch  into  my  books  with  renewed 
ardor,  and  let  the  Bon  Dieu  look  out  for  the  years.' 

''And  the  fact  is  that  the  Prince  has  studied  with 
fresh  energy  since  that  interview.  We  will  see  now 
what  the  Bon  Dieu  does  in  the  way  of  years." 

The  General  died  before  the  tragedy  cut  short  the 
life  of  his  eager  pupil. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   PKINCE    imperial's    '' BAPTISM    OF    FIRE'* 

It  has  often  been  said  by  the  enemies  of  the 
Second  Empire  that  the  conflict  of  1870  was  precipi- 
tated by  the  French  government  in  order  to  gain 
new  glory  for  the  Imperial  family  and  thus  assure 
the  continuation  of  the  reign  on  the  person  of  the 
young  Prince.  Of  course  there  is  no  truth  in  this 
shameful  assertion.  But  what  is  true  is  that  this 
unfortunate  struggle  once  begun,  it  w^as  the  wish  of 
the  Emperor  and  the  Empress,  that  the  Prince  Im- 
perial, mere  child  though  he  was,  be  identified  with 
the  war  so  far  as  was  possible.  Steps  were  im- 
mediately taken  to  carry  out  this  plan. 

After  the  departure  for  the  seat  of  war  in  1870  of 
the  regiments  at  Saint  Cloud,  only  a  squadron  of 
lancers  and  a  battalion  of  light  horse  remained 
behind.  A  few  days  before  he  left  to  join  the  army, 
the  Prince  Imperial,  accompanied  by  Captain  Du- 
peire,  his  aide-de-camp,  visited  these  men  at  the 
barracks.  It  was  about  five  o'clock  and  the  soldiers 
had  just  finished  rubbing  down  their  horses.  At  the 
Prince's  request  Sergeant  Baillehache  conducted 
him  through  the  men's  dormitories  and  over  the 
stables.  The  young  Prince,  who  was  wearing  a  top 
hat  and  a  short  black  coat  with  high  white  collar,  was 
deeply  interested  in  everything  he  saw,  and  showed 
plainly  that  he  was  proud  of  the  fact  that  he  was 

121 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

soon  going  to  the  front ;  so  none  of  the  soldiers  were 
sui'prised  to  hear  him  suddenly  exclaim,  while  con- 
versing with  the  quarter-master:  *'Did  you  know 
that  I  also  am  going?"  This  was  said  with  all  the 
delight  of  a  child  at  the  fulfilment  of  a  long 
cherished  wish. 

The  light  horsemen  had  been  informed  of  his 
intended  visit  and  were  standing  to  receive  him, 
each  at  the  foot  of  his  bed  in  the  dormitory,  cap  in 
hand,  wearing  the  full-dress  tunic  with  yellow  braid- 
ing. As  he  passed  into  the  court  yard,  which  was 
filled  with  serried  rows  of  light  horse  and  lancers, 
he  was  enthusiastically  cheered.  The  cheers  fol- 
lowed him,  in  fact,  all  the  way  up  the  slope  to  the 
castle,  and  it  was  with  considerable  emotion  and 
keen  pleasure  that  he  gave  the  Empress  the  details 
of  this  visit.  I  remember  still  how  delighted 
she  was  with  the  manly  enthusiasm  of  the  boy, 
though  I  will  confess  that  she  was  saddened  at  the 
thought  of  his  early  departure  for  the  seat  of  war, 
where,  notwithstanding  every  precaution,  the 
mother  knew  he  was  sure  to  run  great  risks. 

The  Prince  Imperial  heard  many  more  cheers  the 
day  before  his  departure.  A  luncheon  was  offered 
to  the  entire  garrison  of  Saint  Cloud  and  to  the 
detachment  of  the  Cent  Gardes  stationed  at  Sevres. 
The  tables  were  spread  in  the  yard  of  the  barracks 
where  all  drank  the  health  of  the  heir  to  the  Im- 
perial throne  and  the  youth  of  fourteen  was  loudly 
acclaimed.  Later,  as  he  passed  through  the  ranks, 
clothed  in  the  uniform  of  a  second  lieutenant,  his 
hand  resting  proudly  on  the  hilt  of  his  sword,  and 
the  military  medal  shining  on  his  breast,  many  eyes 
were  dimmed  with  tears.    This  is  one  of  the  most 

122 


THE  PRINCE'S  ''BAPTISM  OF  FIEE" 

sadly  sweet  memories  that  I  cherish — this  young  lad 
so  full  of  promise,  the  loud  cheering  of  the  men, 
hopes  of  success  in  every  breast,  confidence  in  the 
future;  and  then,  on  the  reverse  side  of  the  medal, 
disaster,  exile  and  the  tragedy  of  Zululand. 

On  the  day  following  this  banquet  the  Emperor 
and  the  Prince  Imperial  left  for  the  army.  In  the 
private  part  of  the  park,  near  the  railroad  from 
Sevres  to  Montretout,  one  may  yet  see  a  mushroom- 
shaped  shelter,  roofed  with  thatch  and  surrounded 
by  iron  candelabra.  This  was  called  "the  Emper- 
or's station,"  and  from  this  spot  the  imperial  train 
"ras  accustomed  to  set  forth  when  the  sovereign  left 
Saint  Cloud  for  a  journey. 

The  palace  of  Saint  Cloud  was  very  animated  on 
tlie  morning  of  July  28,  1870.  Princess  Mathilde, 
Prince  Napoleon  and  Princess  Clotilde,  Prince  and 
Princess  Murat,  Prince  and  Princess  Bonaparte,  the 
high  officers  who  were  leaving  with  the  Imperial 
party,  the  ministers,  ladies  and  officers  of  the  house- 
hold, a  few  intimate  friends  invited  for  the  farewell 
— all  these  were  gathered  at  the  castle  on  this  beauti- 
ful summer  day. 

About  ten  o'clock  the  carriages  entered  the  gar- 
dens situated  in  front  of  the  private  apartments,  and 
shortly  afterwards  the  Emperor,  wearing  the  un- 
dress uniform  of  a  general,  came  forth  from  the 
Salon  Vcrnet  accompanied  by  the  Empress  and  the 
Prince  Imperial.  Apparently  very  calm,  the  Em- 
)jeror  spoke  to  all  present.  Much  moved  but 
striving  not  to  show  her  emotion  the  Empress 
hung  back  somewhat,  while  the  PriiK';;  Im- 
perial, gracefully  wearing  the  uiiifoim  of  a  necond 
lieutenant  of  the  Guard,  went  from  one  person  to 

123 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

another,  chatting  rather  excitedly  but  thinking  in 
this  way  to  appear  at  ease.  Yet  the  emotion  of  that 
child  of  fourteen,  with  his  affectionate  and  tender 
nature,  on  the  eve  of  leaving  his  mother  for  the 
first  time,  was  wholly  excusable. 

At  the  extremity  of  the  terrace,  the  Emperor  and 
the  Empress  got  into  our  carriage,  and  soon  all  the 
other  carriages  were  filled  with  the  officers,  minis- 
ters, and  friends.  A  few  of  the  invited  guests  were 
on  foot.  Soon  all  were  gathered  around  the  "mush- 
room." The  parting  moment  at  length  had  come. 
The  Emperor  got  into  the  train  and  the  rest  of  the 
party  began  to  do  likewise.  There  was  a  ceaseless 
succession  of  brilliant  uniforms,  for  besides  the 
aides-de-camp  and  orderlies  who  were  to  accompany 
the  Emperor,  he  also  had  with  him  Major  General 
Leboeuf,  and  Generals  Douai,  Lebrun,  de  Failly, 
Bourbaki  and  Frossard,  who  were  starting  to  join 
their  various  corps.  "^Miy,  it  is  like  a  regiment 
leaving!"  exclaimed  the  Emperor  to  the  Empress, 
endeavoring  to  force  a  smile. 

A  friend  has  written : 

''The  Empress,  deeply  moved,  stood  on  the  plat- 
form, tr}'ing  with  great  effort  to  hide  her  emotion 
and  to  appear  calm  in  the  midst  of  the  anguish  she 
felt  as  mother  and  wife.  Then,  there  were  her 
anxieties  as  regent,  on  whom  was  to  weigh  the  heavy 
burden  of  a  crown  which  might  topple  over  at  the 
slightest  touch  and  crush  her  in  its  fall.  Once  again 
she  kissed  the  Emperor  and  her  son.  The  Prince 
gave  her  a  last  affectionate  clinging  embrace,  and 
turned  to  shake  hands  with  those  around  him,  while 
the  Emperor  closely  scanned  those  who  surrounded 
him,  lest  he  might  have   overlooked  some   one  to 

124 


THE  PRINCE'S  '' BAPTISM  OF  FIRE'» 

whom  he  had  not  said  farewell.  Thus  he  perceived 
one  of  his  chamberlains,  and  exclaimed:  'Ah!  du 
Manoir,  I  have  not  said  good-by  to  you.' 

''These  were  the  Emperor's  last  words  at  Saint 
Cloud,  for  the  signal  for  starting  had  been  given 
and  the  train,  with  a  loud,  shrill  whistle,  slowly 
began  to  move  off.  'Always  do  your  duty,  Louis,' 
said  the  Empress  at  this  moment  in  a  voice  choked 
with  emotion;  and,  at  the  same  moment  every  one 
uncovered,  while  a  loud  cry  of  'Long  live  the  Em- 
peror!' arose.  It  was  the  last  time  that  this  shout 
was  raised  at  the  palace  of  Saint  Cloud. 

"The  Emperor,  leaning  out  of  the  carriage  win- 
dow, threw  a  farewell  kiss  to  the  Empress,  who 
remained  motionless,  her  eyes  fixed  on  the  husband 
whom  fate  was  dragging  from  her,  and  on  the  son 
leaving  her  so  young,  to  become  the  sport  of  cir- 
cumstances. The  Emperor's  sad,  kind  face  was  seen 
until  the  train  reached  the  gateway  where  the 
branch  joins  the  main  line.  Then  he  crossed  to  the 
other  side  of  the  carriage  and  bowed  to  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Montretout  who  had  assembled  to  cheer  him 
and  wave  their  farewell. 

"At  the  last  moment,  just  before  the  train  quite 
disappeared,  a  handkerchief  was  seen  fluttering 
from  one  of  the  car  windows.  It  was  the  Prince  Im- 
perial thus  sending  a  last  good-by  to  his  mother, 
and  to  France !  Then  the  turning  of  the  road  hid  all 
from  sight  and  the  Empress  shook  off  the  stupor 
which  had  seized  hor.  AValking  towards  her  car- 
riage, she  gave  free  vent  to  her  emotion  and,  hiding 
her  face  in  her  handkerchief,  sobbed  bitterly.  And 
thus  ended  this  sad  separation  with  all  its  lament- 
able aftermath." 

125 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

On  August  2,  1870,  the  Emperor,  with  his  son  by 
his  side,  was  present  at  the  engagement  of  Sarre- 
bruck.  This  was  the  Prince  Imi^eriaPs  "baptism  of 
fire,"  a  fact  which  was  sneeringly  criticized  by  the 
enemies  of  the  Empire,  but  which  the  Emperor 
hastened  to  announce  to  the  Empress  by  telegram. 
Notwithstanding  her  very  natural  anxiety  and  grief 
at  being  separated  from  her  boy,  she  considered  it 
only  right  that  he  should  be  at  the  Emperor's  side 
on  such  an  occasion. 

After  that  very  insignificant  victory  came  a  series 
of  disasters  which  followed  one  another  in  startling 
and  discouraging  succession.  The  feverish  anxiety 
of  the  first  days  changed  now  to  dull,  aching 
anguish ;  there  seemed  indeed  to  be  no  lining  to  the 
cloud,  and  hope  appeared  but  a  vain  word.  On 
August  14th  the  Emperor  and  Prince  left  Metz, 
spent  the  night  of  the  15th  at  Gravelotte  in  a  very 
modest  inn,  and,  at  four  in  the  morning,  accom- 
panied only  by  two  followers,  they  got  into  a  post- 
chaise,  escorted  by  a  platoon  of  the  Cent  Gardes. 
The  officers  of  the  military  household  followed  in 
two  other  carriages. 

Just  before  they  left.  Marshal  Bazaine  came  to 
speak  with  the  Emperor.  Bazaine 's  one  desire  was 
to  get  rid  of  the  Emperor,  and  with  this  object  in 
view,  he  delayed  the  army's  march  towards  Verdun. 
He  naturally  felt  a  great  responsibility  in  having 
with  him  the  Emperor  and  Prince  Imperial;  but  if 
they  had  remained  with  him,  the  probability  is  that 
Bazaine 's  after  career  would  have  been  very  dif- 
ferent from  what  it  was,  and  certainly  more  honor- 
able to  him  and  less  unfortunate  to  the  noble  French 
army  under  his  baneful  command. 

126 


THE  PRINCE'S  ''BAPTISM  OF  FIRE" 

The  post-chaise  started  toward  Verdun,  preceded, 
as  has  been  said,  by  the  Gardes,  and  followed  by  two 
squadrons  of  lancers.  On  reaching  Doncourt,  the 
latter  were  replaced  by  a  portion  of  the  xVfrican 
corps  of  General  Margueritte,  commanded  by 
Colonel  de  Galliffet.  Several  times  the  Emperor 
mentioned  this  satisfaction  at  seeing  the  Marquis  de 
Galliffet  at  the  head  of  the  escort,  and  assured  him 
that,  in  the  midst  of  his  soldiers,  he  felt  no  anxiety 
regarding  his  son's  safety. 

And  yet  there  was  considerable  danger.  The 
enemy  was  so  near  at  hand  that  the  lancers  had, 
while  returning  to  their  camp,  a  skirmish  with  a  troop 
of  German  scouts.  A  few  miles  further  on,  while 
lunching  at  Etain,  the  Emperor  and  his  escort  nar- 
rowly escaped  being  taken  prisoners.  But  they 
finally  reached  Verdun  safely  at  nine  o'clock,  where 
no  time  was  lost,  as  it  was  desirable  to  reach 
Chalons  as  quickly  as  possible  in  the  hope  of  meet- 
ing the  fragments  of  MacMahon's  army  and  the 
other  troops  who  were  to  try  to  relieve  Bazaine 
from  his  desperate  situation.  The  Emperor  and  the 
Prince  Imperial  took  the  train,  therefore,  at  eleven 
o'clock  at  night  and  arrived  at  Chalons  at  daybreak. 
The  Prince  visited  the  camp,  and  was  enthus- 
iastically greeted  everywhere  in  spite  of  the  con- 
fusion in  the  ranks  and  the  bad  news  constantly 
received.  This  warm  welcome  at  Chalons  was  one  of 
the  last  pleasant  remembrances  he  had  of  tliose  sad 
days.  More  than  once  in  after  years,  he  spoke  of  it 
with  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress,  when,  which 
rarely  happened,  they  went  over  again  that  dark 
epoch  during  our  English  exile. 

On  August  21st  the  Emperor  reached  Courcelles, 

127 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

near  Reims,  where  he  received,  on  the  following  day, 
a  visit  from  M.  Ronher  and  Marshal  MacMahon, 
with  whom  he  discussed  various  plans  in  view  of 
future  events.  A  few  minutes  after  the  departure  of 
M.  Roulier  on  August  23rd,  the  detachment  of  the 
Cent  Gardes  was  ordered  to  escort  the  Prince  Im- 
perial to  Rethel,  where  the  Prince  stopped  at  the 
Sub-Prefect's  residence.  A  dinner  was  given  in  his 
honor,  at  which  he  '' conducted  himself  in  a  manner 
that  would  have  done  credit  to  a  full-grown  man," 
said  to  the  Empress,  later,  one  of  those  present. 

The  Emperor  came  on  the  following  day,  by  way 
of  Betheniville,  and,  until  August  27th,  remained 
with  the  Prince  Imperial  at  Tourteron,  on  the  road 
between  Rethel  and  Sedan.  The  Emperor  was 
naturally  loath  to  quit  his  son,  but  military  and 
dynastic  interests  both  demanded  this  sacrifice;  so 
it  was  at  Tourteron  that  the  Emperor  and  Prince 
Imperial  finally  separated,  Napoleon  going  to  Le 
Chesne,  while  the  Prince  left  for  Mezieres,  with 
Captain  Duperre,  Comte  Clary,  Major  Lamey,  and 
Viscomte  d'Aure,  as  equerry.  A  corporal  and  two 
men  preceded  them,  while  Lieutenant  Watrin  rode 
on  the  right  of  the  carriage. 

On  Sunday,  the  2Sth,  they  passed  through  Sedan, 
where  they  witnessed  an  uncalled  for  panic,  which 
awakened  the  growing  suspicions  of  the  young 
Prince  that  all  was  not  going  well.  On  the  road  near 
Vrigne-aux-Bois,  they  met  an  ambulance.  The 
Prince  requested  it  to  halt,  enquired  after  the 
wounded  and  gave  the  men  some  money.  "What  he 
was  told  by  these  poor  fellows  confirmed  his  sus- 
picions. He  felt  pretty  sure  that  all  was  not  well; 
but  he  said  nothing.    On  Monday,  the  29th,  they 

128 


THE  PRINCE'S  '^BAPTISM  OF  FIRE" 

readied  Mezieres,  where  tliey  did  not  stop  but  went 
on  the  next  day  through  Avesnes  and  Landrecies, 
where  the  Prince  was  loudly  and  enthusiastically 
cheered.  These  cheers  gave  the  boy  fresh  hopes ;  his 
spirits  were  kept  up  by  the  novelty  of  the  surround- 
ings, and  the  continual  change  of  place,  view  and 
people.  ' '  He  charmed  us  all  by  his  good  nature  and 
seriousness,"  said  one  of  his  companions  to  me 
later;  "though  he  intuitively  felt  that  something 
was  wrong,  he  discreetly  put  no  awkward  questions, 
which  was  not  the  least  praiseworthy  peculiarity  of 
his  conduct  under  these  most  trying  circumstances." 

The  whole  party  suffered  the  greatest  anxiety  all 
the  time  during  this  journey,  which  was  of  necessity 
accomplished  in  a  very  stealthy  and  round-about 
manner.  On  Sunday  came  the  news  of  the  disaster 
at  Sedan,  which,  of  course,  augmented  this  nervous- 
ness and  rendered  it  still  harder  to  keep  the  truth 
from  the  intelligent  Prince.  As  long  as  possible  this 
last  catastrophe  was  hidden  from  him,  and  he  flatly 
refused  at  first  to  join  in  the  retreating  movement. 
The  secret  was  still  kept,  and  for  two  days  longer  he 
remained  ignorant  of  the  defeat  in  the  Ardennes 
and  the  revolution  at  Paris. 

There  has  been  much  discussion  over  the  reasons 
that  prompted  Captain  Duperre  to  order  those  in 
the  suite  of  the  Prince  to  say  nothing  to  him  of  out- 
side events.  Those  who  were  familiar,  however,  with 
the  chivalrous  character  of  the  young  heir,  readily 
understood  why  such  a  course  had  been  adopted. 
"He  did  not  merely  like  danger,  he  adored  it,"  has 
very  justly  been  remarked  by  M.  Filon,  the  former 
tutor  of  the  Prince  Imperial;  and  everything  was  to 
be  feared  with  a  youth  of  his  temperament.    Con- 

129 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

sequcntly,  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress  always 
approved  heartily  of  the  conduct  of  this  worthy  oflS- 
cer  in  this  particular.  The  Prince  Imperial  himself 
used  to  say  of  him  that  he  never  knew  a  finer  speci- 
men of  the  devoted  and  thorough  military  gentle- 
man. "If  it  had  not  been  for  his  good  sense  and 
clear-sightedness,"  the  Prince  once  remarked,  "we 
might  have  never  reached  England;  anyway,  I 
would  have  been  far  more  depressed  than  I  was  if 
he  had  not  kept  from  my  ears  all  the  exaggerated 
and  often  absolutely  false  rumours  which  were 
rained  on  us  from  all  sides." 

The  welcome  which  the  Prince  received  at  Mau- 
beuge  from  Mme.  Marchant,  widow  of  the  distin- 
guished Senator  of  the  Empire,  was  most  touching. 
"I  felt  that  I  could  not  do  too  much  for  the  noble 
boy,"  wrote  this  excellent  woman  to  the  Empress  at 
a  much  later  period;  "and  he  was  so  grateful  for 
my  little  attention  that  I  was  moved  to  tears.  The 
Prince  Imperial  had  a  fine  solid  character  and  would 
have  made  a  model  ruler  of  men." 

The  Sub-Prefect  of  Avesnes,  M.  Richebe,  was 
complimented  by  Captain  Duperre  on  the  enthu- 
siasm manifested  by  the  inhabitants  of  his  town, 
which  plainly  showed  what  a  strong  hold  the  Em- 
pire had  on  the  people.  In  fact,  this  popular  in- 
terest taken  in  the  Prince  was  a  source  of  real  em- 
barrassment to  the  escort.  Cheered  everywhere  on 
his  passage,  his  presence  was  known  to  everybody, 
and  it  was  difficult  to  see  how  the  young  Prince  with 
his  little  escort  would  be  able  to  leave  France  un- 
molested, if  the  new  Government  at  Paris  or  the 
active  German  army  should  decide  to  stop  his  flight. 
The  orders  w^hich  had  been  received  from  the  Im- 

130 


THE  PRINCE'S  "BAPTISM  OF  FIRE" 

perial  authorities  read:  "Leave  immediately  for 
Belgium."  They  came  in  the  form  of  a  telegram 
from  M.  Filon,  who  was  carrying  out  the  instruc- 
tions of  the  Regency.  It  was  naturally  felt  by  the 
friends  of  the  Empire  that  with  the  Empress  and 
the  Prince  Imperial  safe,  "anything  was  possible 
in  the  chaos  which  then  reigned  in  France,"  as  a 
friend  remarked. 

When  it  was  announced  to  the  Prince  Imperial 
that  he  must  quit  French  soil,  he  naturally  objected; 
but  when  at  last  he  found  he  must  submit,  he  quietly 
climbed  into  the  break  which  was  to  take  him  and 
his  officers  to  Feignies  and  bade  a  touching  fare- 
well to  Watrin.  But  he  said  nothing.  "The  boy's 
big  heart  was  too  full  to  speak,"  said  one  of  the 
escort.  The  fugitives  went  by  train  from  Feignies 
to  Alons,  where  again  the  Prince  Imperial  showed 
signs  of  rebellion,  and  it  w^as  not  without  difficulty 
that  his  objections  were  overcome.  It  should  be 
borne  in  mind  that  he  knew  nothing  of  what  had  oc- 
curred, and  could  not  understand  exactly  why  he 
was  requested,  or  rather  made,  to  leave  France,  In 
vain  he  begged  the  officers  to  disregard  the  orders 
which  had  now  come  both  from  Paris  and  Sedan; 
in  vain  he  questioned  all  around  him,  trying  to  ob- 
tain some  clew;  but  ho  finally  yielded  to  Duperre's 
firm  determination  to  obey  instructions. 

At  Mons  they  found  it  impossible  to  get  a  car- 
I'iage  when  they  reached  the  station.  The  Prince 
and  his  escort  had  to  walk  to  the  Crown  Hotel, 
where,  in  1800,  Ijouis  Xaj^oleon,  his  grandfather, 
bad  stopped,  and  where,  in  1810,  Napoleon  and  Ma- 
rie Louise  stayed  on  tlie  way  to  Laeken.  This  fact 
was  noted  by  the  Prince  in  a  little  diary  kept  during 

131 


MEMOIKS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

his  early  years.  A  compact  crowd  filled  the  square 
ill  front  of  the  hotel  and  comments  of  all  sorts  filled 
the  air.  But  everything  said  was  of  a  respectful 
nature  and  the  people  showed  much  sympathy  for 
the  unfortunate  boy  and  his  faithful  escort. 

After  a  short  rest  at  Mons,  preparations  were 
made  for  continuing  the  journey.  According  to  fur- 
ther instructions  telegraphed  by  the  Emperor,  Cap- 
tain Duperre  again  gave  the  signal  to  depart,  and 
in  order  to  mislead  the  waiting  people  who  desired 
to  see  once  again  the  fugitives,  the  Prince  and  his 
party  were  driven  to  the  station  in  the  hotel  omni- 
bus. '*That  shows  a  democratic  spirit,"  remarked 
one  of  the  bystanders  as  they  drove  up  to  the  train. 
"I  like  that,"  said  another;  ''the  Bonapartes  are 
not  afraid  to  remind  the  public  now  and  then  of 
their  popular  origin."  The  Prince  Imperial,  who 
noted  these  remarks  himself,  smiled  pleasantly  when 
he  heard  them.  A  special  train  was  in  readiness  for 
him,  and  in  order  to  hide  their  real  movements  from 
the  crowd,  the  Prince  and  his  suite  got  into  another 
train  which  was  standing  in  the  station.  They  sim- 
ply passed  through  this  train  by  the  opposite  door 
and  entered  the  special  for  Verviers.  This  hap- 
pened on  September  4th,  at  eight  in  the  evening, 
and  at  one  o'clock  the  train  stopped  at  Xamur, 
where  further  instructions  were  awaited. 

The  Emperor,  a  prisoner  and  on  his  way  to  Cas- 
sel,  had  hoped  to  meet  his  son  at  Verviers,  and,  for 
an  instant,  imagined  that  the  Prince  might,  for  a 
few  days  at  least,  be  a  temporary  prisoner  with  him. 
But  the  instructions  received  by  the  Prussian  gen- 
eral who  accompanied  the  Emperor  destroyed  all 
these  pleasant  expectations.     Therefore,   the  Em- 

132 


THE  PRINCE'S  ''BAPTISM  OF  FIRE" 

peror  sadly  gave  orders  to  Comte  Clary,  who  had 
come  to  meet  him,  while  the  Prince  Imperial  was 
at  Namiir,  that  the  latter  should  go  to  England, 
crossing  by  Ostend  and  Dover. 

Up  to  this  point,  as  has  already  been  said,  the 
Prince  Imperial  had  been  kept  in  ig*norance  of  the 
tragedy  which  had  just  occurred.  But  now,  with  the 
assistance  of  Comte  de  Baillet,  Governor  of  Namur, 
Captain  Duperre  and  Comte  Clary  explained  to  the 
child  all  that  had  taken  place — the  Emperor  a  pris- 
oner, the  Empire  overthrown,  his  mother  on  the 
road  to  England,  the  German  arms  victorious  on  all 
sides.  The  boy  heard  these  dreadful  revelations 
without  uttering  a  word.  It  has  been  said  that  he 
gave  vent  to  certain  expressions  of  sorrow  and  re- 
gret, but  this  is  untrue.  For  a  long  time  he  re- 
mained silent,  drawing  himself  up  proudly  and  stif- 
fening eveiy  muscle  against  the  cruel  anguish  which 
oppressed  him.  When  the  time  came  to  sit  down  to 
table,  he  was  pale  but  calm  and  barely  touched 
the  food  which  was  put  before  him.  On  leaving  his 
host,  the  Governor,  the  Prince  thanked  him  most 
warmly  and  asked  how  he  could  show  his  gratitude. 
''By  two  lines  of  your  writing.  Highness,"  said 
Comte  de  Baillet.  Then  the  Prince  slowly  w^ote  with 
a  firm  hand  on  a  sheet  of  paper  these  words:  "Af- 
fectionate and  grateful  remembrances.  Namur,  Sep- 
tember 5,  1870.  Louis  Napoleon." 

At  three  o'clock  that  afternoon  a  carriage  drew 
up  before  a  small  gate  leading  into  the  Namur  sta- 
tion. The  Prince  jumped  out  with  a  light  step  and 
walked  rapidly  to  the  station-master's  office,  where 
he  awaited  the  departure  of  the  train,  talking  mean- 
while affably  with  Colonel  Goffinet,  Military  Com- 

133 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

mander  of  Namur,  and  with  Colonel  Beretzy.  One 
of  these  gentlemen  wrote  in  a  private  letter  a  few 
days  afterwards  :  ''You  would  never  have  imagined 
from  his  words  and  manner  that  this  lad  had  learned 
for  the  first  time,  but  an  hour  or  so  before,  that 
his  parents  w^ere  prisoners  or  fugitives  like  himself 
and  that  the  throne  on  which  he  had  expected  to 
sit  one  day  was  broken  to  pieces.  The  Prince  Im- 
perial was  a  man  at  fourteen." 

AVhen  the  Prince  appeared  on  the  platform, 
women  bowed  low  and  men  silently  uncovered  with 
a  feeling  of  genuine  pity  and  sympathy  for  this 
youth,  who,  pale  and  calm,  returned  their  courtesies 
with  a  sad  smile  that  spoke  volumes.  "At  the  same 
time  there  was  a  certain  manly  dignity  about  him," 
said  one  of  the  on-lookers,  ''that  would  have  at- 
tracted attention  even  if  he  had  not  been  associated 
with  such  a  terrible  political  catastrophe." 

At  eight  that  evening  the  Prince  and  his  friends 
reached  Ostend  station,  where  his  approaching  ar- 
rival had  been  announced  b}^  telegraph.  As  many 
people  were  gathered  there  out  of  idle  curiosity  to 
see  the  fallen  Prince,  he  asked  to  be  permitted  to 
leave  the  station  by  a  little  gate  which  faced  the 
hotel  where  he  was  to  stop.  There  was  some  delay  in 
opening  this  gate,  so  the  Prince,  boy-like,  quietly 
climbed  over  it,  much  to  the  surprised  admiration 
of  a  few  bystanders.  At  Ostend  he  spent  one  night 
in  the  Hotel  d 'Allemagiie,  and  on  the  following  day 
a  boat  from  the  yacht,  Sea-Bird,  belonging  to  Count 
Dumonceau,  carried  the  Prince  to  the  steamer,  the 
Count  of  Flanders,  commanded  by  Lieutenant 
Gerard.  Shutting  himself  in  the  cabin  occupied  by 
the    Belgian   king   when    he   makes    this    crossing, 

134 


THE  PRINCE'S  "BAPTISM  OF  FIRE" 

Prince  Louis  came  on  deck  only  when  the  boat  had 
left  the  harbor,  the  expectant  crowd  waiting  in 
vain  to  catch  a  glance  of  him.  Five  hours  later  the 
steamer  reached  Dover.  The  young  Prince  got  into 
the  special  train  which  was  to  take  him  to  Hastings, 
where,  on  the  following  day  the  Empress,  who  had 
crossed  from  Deauville  to  Ryde  on  Sir  John  Bur- 
goyne's  yacht,  drew  her  beloved  son  to  her  arms, 
and  there,  shortly  afterwards,  they  received  the 
news  of  Napoleon's  arrival  at  Wilhelmsliohe.  This 
meeting,  after  so  many  anxious  days  of  separation, 
was  balm  to  the  hearts  of  both  mother  and  son. 

Princess  Murat,  the  Duchesse  de  Mouchy,  the  wife 
of  Marshal  Ganrobert,  the  Marquis  de  Lavalette,  the 
Due  de  Gramont  and  other  important  and  faithful 
members  of  the  household  hastened  to  join  them  in 
England,  and,  at  the  end  of  the  week,  M.  Filon  was 
again  to  be  found  at  his  pupil's  side,  much  to  the 
comfort  of  the  Prince  Imperial,  who  was  deeply  at- 
tached to  this  learned  and  affable  young  scholar.  A 
few  weeks  later  M.  Filon  asked  to  be  admitted  into 
the  ranks  of  the  army  of  the  Loire,  but  Gambetta 
caused  him  to  be  arrested  and  sent  back  to  Eng- 
land, where  he  remained  w^ith  the  Prince  until  the 
latter 's  death. 

This  month's  terrible  experiences  made  an  indeli- 
ble impression  on  the  fresh  heart  of  the  young 
Prince.  It  was  the  first  time  that  he  had  been  sepa- 
rated from  his  family  and  tliat  his  quiet  and  well- 
ordered  home  life  had  been  disturbed.  It  was  his 
initial  plunge  into  the  real  existence  of  the  real 
world,  a  plunge  made  under  most  extraordinary  cir- 
cumstances. He  had  been  long  studying  military 
science,  reading  about  the  great  Napoleon's  famous 

135 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

campaigns  and,  in  a  word,  playing  at  war.  During 
this  fateful  month  of  August,  1870,  he  had  caught 
glimpses  of  actual  warfare,  had  heard  the  firing  of 
death-bearing  cannon  and  had  looked  into  the  faces 
of  men  wounded  on  the  battle-field.  These  scenes 
completed  his  military  education  and  made  a  soldier 
of  him.  Here  was  received  the  initial  incentive 
which  carried  him  to  South  Africa  and  to  his  tragic 
death.  It  was  also  during  this  campaign  of  1870 
that  he  underwent  his  first  great  sorrow  and  under- 
went it  alone,  in  "the  isolation  of  self";  for  rare  is 
the  case  of  a  boy  of  his  tender  age  having  to  bear 
up  alone  against  such  cruel  blows  of  misfortune 
as  those  which  assailed  him  in  the  first  days  of  Sep- 
tember, when  he  learned  of  the  disasters  which  had 
befallen  France  and  the  Empire.  ''In  the  two  short 
months  of  August  and  September,  1870,  I  developed 
more  mentally  than  I  developed  bodily,"  he  once 
said,  "during  the  whole  seven  years  from  fourteen 
to  my  majority."  And  all  those  who  knew  the 
Prince  Imperial  intimately  will  agree  with  this  as- 
sertion. 

In  the  early  seventies  the  restoration  of  the  Im- 
perial regime  seemed  imminent  to  many  minds  both 
inside  and  outside  of  France.  In  1874  the  first  anni- 
versary of  the  Emperor's  death  was  widely  and  feel- 
ingly observed,  and  on  March  16th  of  the  same  year 
the  constitutional  majority — eighteen — of  the 
Prince  Imperial  was  enthusiastically  celebrated  at 
Chislehurst.  He  performed  his  part  in  the  proceed- 
ings with  great  digTiity,  manliness  and  composure. 
The  Empress  stood  at  his  side,  surrounded  by  all 
the  dignitaries  and  ladies  of  the  former  court,  when 

136 


THE  PRINCE'S  ''BAPTISM  OF  FIRE" 

the  time  came  for  him  to  deliver  his  speech.  The 
young  man  mastered  his  emotion  and  read  his  dec- 
laration in  a  firm  voice.  His  mother  was  never 
more  proud  of  him  than  at  the  moment  when  ho 
concluded.  She  felt  that  he  had  passed  through  th;- 
ordeal  successfully,  and  this  mother's  judgment,  so 
apt  to  be  too  partial,  was  confirmed  immediately  by 
the  plaudits  of  the  large  concourse  of  friends  and 
supporters.  Barely  had  the  last  words  been  pro- 
nounced, when  the  vast  crowd  began  to  press  to- 
ward the  platform  on  which  the  Prince  stood,  and 
so  great  was  the  crush,  that  it  was  with  consider- 
able difficulty  that  he  got  safely  back  into  the  house. 
In  fact,  it  looked  for  the  minute  as  though  the 
Prince  would  be  borne  away  on  the  shoulders  of  the 
excited  multitude.  But  finally  the  people  calmed 
down,  and  then  began  the  curious  and  interesting 
reception  of  the  various  delegations.  I  particularly 
remember  the  representatives  of  the  Paris  market 
women,  with  that  characteristic  Mme.  Lebon  at  their 
head.  When  she  reached  the  Prince,  she  kissed  him 
on  both  cheeks,  and,  somewhat  confused,  said  to 
him:  ''Your  Majesty  may  be  interested  to  know 
that  twenty-two  years  ago — before  you  were  born — 
I  saluted  in  this  same  way  the  Emperor,  at  the  ball 
given  by  the  market  committee."  We  were  mucli 
amused  at  the  title  which  the  good  woman  gave  to 
the  Prince.  "It  showed  what  she  was  thinking," 
remarked  the  Prince  at  the  dinner  which  followed. 
"She  was  only  a  little  too  'previous,'  "  added  a  san- 
guine but  prudent  guest. 

That  a  strong  current  of  opinion  in  favor  of  the 
Prince  was  beginning  to  show  itself  cannot  be  de- 
nied.   Some  of  the  friends  who  had  come  over  from 

137 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

France  and  now  saw  him  for  the  first  time  since 
he  began  to  pass  from  boyhood  to  manhood,  ex- 
pressed surprise  that  he  should  remain  in  a  foreign 
land  instead  of  returning  to  France  with  them.  The 
Empress  felt,  however,  that  it  would  be  unwise  to 
go  to  work  so  rapidly.  She  urged  moderation  on 
those  who  showed  too  much  ardor.  Deeply  wounded 
by  all  the  insults  and  all  the  injustices  which  had 
been  heaped  upon  the  Emperor  and  herself  since 
the  war,  it  was  hard  for  her  to  believe  that  the  move- 
ment which  had  commenced  in  1872  and  which  had 
been  momentarily  checked  by  the  death  of  the  Em- 
peror and  the  youth  of  the  Prince  Imperial,  was 
now  really  taking  solid  form.  But  gradually  she 
began  to  realize  that  the  dream  was  becoming  a 
reality  and  that  the  day  was  drawing  near  when  the 
Prince  Imperial  might  become  "necessary."  Eu- 
genie was  chiefly  brought  round  to  this  view  by  the 
reiterated  statements  to  this  effect  which  came  from 
the  generals,  the  ecclesiastics  and,  of  course,  from 
the  politicians  who  came  over  to  England  in  increas- 
ing numbers  after  the  brilliant  ceremonies  of  March 
16th. 

I  ought  to  add  right  here  that  there  is  no  truth  in 
the  assertion  which  has  been  so  often  made  that 
the  Prince  Imperial  and  the  Empress  were  not  in 
accord  at  this  time.  The  Prince  continued  his  mili- 
tary studies  at  Woolwich,  but  on  holidays  he  would 
receive  men  of  influence  in  the  Bonapartist  party, 
by  whom  he  was  kept  well  informed  concerning  the 
whole  political  situation  in  France  and  outside  of 
the  country.  They  were  both  agreed  in  regard  to 
his  line  of  conduct.  Anybody  who  is  at  all  acquaint- 
ed with  the  home  life  at  Chislehurst  knows  that  they 

138 


THE  PRINCE'S  ''BAPTISM  OF  FIRE" 

worked  together  for  the  best  interests  of  the  regime ; 
but  they  must  not  be  held  responsible  for  the  differ- 
ences of  opinion  which  unquestionably  existed  in 
the  party  and  which  both  strove  to  assuage.  Some 
of  the  more  energetic  leaders  did  not  approve  of  the 
rather  temporizing  policy  of  M.  Rouher  and  would 
have  preferred  seeing  a  more  aggressive  man  at  the 
head  of  the  Bonaparte  interests.  The  Duke  of 
Padua  was  often  put  forward  for  this  post.  So  was 
General  Fleury,  who  had  shown  so  much  devotion  to 
the  Bonapartes  and  the  cause.  There  had  been  a 
time  when  these  two  excellent  men  were  not  on 
friendly  terms.  But  both  realized  that  if  the  Bona- 
partes were  to  succeed,  there  must  be  union  in  rank 
and  file.  So  they  quickly  buried  their  differences 
in  the  common  interests.  The  Empress  had  great 
confidence  in  M.  Rouher,  but  this  did  not  prevent 
her  from  taking  the  advice  of  other  friends  of  the 
Empire.  The  Prince  Imperial  acted  in  the  same 
catholic  fashion,  and  here  again  mother  and  son 
were  of  quite  one  mind.  He  would  study  the  whole 
situation  thoroughly  and  then  would  arrive  at  a 
conclusion  whose  correctness  often  surprised  those 
who  remembered  his  youth  at  the  time.  So  it  be- 
came more  and  more  evident  that  he  was  the  "re- 
serve" of  the  conservative  party  of  France,  espe- 
cially since  the  Comte  de  Chambord  had,  the  year 
before,  put  himself  in  a  position  where  he  could  not 
hope  modem  France  would  follow  him.  His  return 
to  France  was  possible,  if  the  general  situation  took 
a  favorable  turn.  Mother  and  son  both  felt  this  and 
both  saw  what  a  new  and  responsible  position  was 
theirs.    This  alone  would  have  more  tliaii  sufiiiced  to 

139 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

cause  union  between  them,  if  this  union  had  not  al- 
ready existed. 

In  1875,  after  a  stay  at  Arenberg,  where  the 
Prince  Imperial  and  the  Empress  welcomed  a  few 
friends  from  France,  they  decided  to  travel  in  Italy. 
There  was  no  danger  of  any  political  meaning  being 
attached  to  this  journey,  particularly  as  the  Prince 
was  to  travel  incognito  under  the  name  of  Comte  de 
Pierrefonds.  At  Bellagio  they  parted,  the  Empress 
going  to  Milan,  while  the  Prince  continued  on  to 
Verona.  Unrecognized,  he  visited  the  battle-field 
of  Solferino  and  took  great  interest  in  this  instruc- 
tive excursion,  so  fitting  for  the  heir  of  a  military 
djnaasty,  and  for  himself,  who  was  always  much 
attracted  by  military  matters.  The  Prince  Imperial 
was  devoted  to  such  studies,  not  alone  because  he 
considered  it  a  duty,  but  chiefly  because  it  suited 
his  tastes. 

After  Solferino,  he  went  to  Magenta.  But  now 
his  incognito  no  longer  shielded  him,  and  it  became 
impossible  to  escape  the  sjmipathetic  demonstra- 
tions which  everywhere  greeted  the  son  of  him  who 
had  been  the  Liberator  of  Italy.  The  Prince's  de- 
parture from  Milan  had  leaked  out,  and  when  he 
reached  Magenta,  he  found  the  Municipal  Council 
awaiting  him,  while  the  road  was  lined  by  crowds 
of  people  who  greeted  him  with  loud  and  continuous 
cheers. 

In  Milan,  numberless  marks  of  sjnnpathy  were 
sho^vn  the  Empress,  but  she  avoided  as  far  as  pos- 
sible all  receptions,  though  some  attentions  could 
not  be  refused  without  showing  greater  indifference 
than  she  cared  to  assume.  The  population  of  Milan 
was  thanked  for  its  attentions,   and  at  Florence, 

140 


THE  PRINCE'S  ''BAPTISM  OF  FIRE" 

where  both  wished  to  stop  for  some  time,  the  mu- 
nicipal authorities  desired  to  receive  them  officially 
at  the  station,  where  the  neighboring  streets  were 
so  crowded  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  leave. 
So  dense  was  the  crowd  surrounding  the  entrance 
that  several  times  the  Empress  cried  out  as  the 
carriage  passed:  ''Take  care!"  Both  were  deeply 
moved  by  these  friendly  acts.  Italy  and,  above  all, 
the  Italian  Government  had  seemed  to  forget  so  en- 
tirely all  the  services  the  Emperor  had  rendered 
to  the  country  and  to  the  cause  of  Italian  unity  that 
these  manifestations  might  well  occasion  some  sur- 
prise. 

During  the  six  weeks  spent  in  the  Tuscan  capital, 
there  was  a  perpetual  round  of  receptions,  dinners, 
and  even  balls  given  in  honor  of  the  Prince.  The 
Empress  lived  in  retirement  in  a  villa  situated  at 
the  gates  of  Florence  and  did  not  take  part  in  the 
social  events.  A  few  friends  from  France  had 
joined  the  party,  who  generally  accompanied  the 
Prince,  while  others  kept  the  Empress  company. 
Among  these  were  M.  Rouhor,  chief  of  the  Imperial 
party  in  France,  Prince  Joachim  Murat,  General 
Espinasse's  son,  who  had  been  a  friend  of  the  Prince 
Imperial  since  childhood.  Though  nothing  was  done 
to  disturb  the  international  relations  of  France  and 
Italy,  all  quietly  studied  the  situation  in  the  former 
country  and  examined  questions  of  the  future.  This 
was  only  natural. 

The  Prince  Imperial  was  not  wholly  occupied  by 
his  social  duties,  to  which,  however,  he  devoted  no 
small  part  of  his  time,  well  understanding  their  im- 
portance to  the  successor  to  a  throne.  He  continued 
his  military  studies,  which  were  already  far  ad- 

141 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

vanced,  participated  in  the  artillery  maneuvers  and 
took  lessons  in  military  art  from  a  very  distin- 
guished officer  of  the  Italian  army,  Major  Manzi. 

On  December  15th,  accompanied  by  M.  Rouher 
and  Prince  Joachim  Murat,  the  Empress  and  the 
Prince  left  for  Rome,  where  Pope  Pius  IX  awaited 
the  visit  of  his  godson.  They  were  welcomed  at  the 
Vatican  with  all  due  honors,  and  the  Holy  Father 
showed  them  marked  affection.  This  visit  created 
considerable  comment  both  in  Rome  and  in  France, 
the  extreme  parties  in  both  countries  speaking  out 
loudly  on  the  subject.  Some  maintained  that  the 
Prince  Imperial  had  requested  the  assistance  of  the 
Holy  Father  in  political  matters,  while  others  did 
not  hesitate  to  assert  that  Pius  IX  had  been  much  an- 
noyed by  a  visit  which  he  did  not  desire  and  could 
not  refuse,  and  had  been  extremely  cold  in  his  man- 
ner towards  the  Empress  and  her  son.  There  was 
no  truth  in  either  of  these  statements.  The  call  on 
the  Pope  was  quite  natural.  The  Empress  and  the 
Prince  were  in  Italy,  there  was  no  dominant  politi- 
cal object  in  view,  and  it  was  simply  an  act  of  re- 
spect and  deference  on  the  part  of  a  Christian  and 
very  deeply  religious  Prince  towards  the  Chief  of 
his  Church,  a  mark  of  affection  on  the  part  of  a  god- 
son towards  his  godfather.  At  least,  such  was  the 
light  in  which  it  was  regarded  by  host  and  guests. 

After  the  visit  to  Rome,  the  Imperial  party  re- 
turned to  Florence,  where  they  remained  through- 
out the  winter  of  1875-1876.  Again,  they  took  up 
the  same  style  of  living,  half  military,  half  social. 
The  Prince  was  evidently  appreciated  in  the  Flor- 
entine society.  Besides  the  Bonaparte  Princesses 
and  other  connections  of  the  family  who  paid  visits 

142 


THE  PRINCE'S  ''BAPTISM  OF  FIRE" 

to  him,  many  influential  members  of  official  and 
aristocratic  circles  came  to  pay  their  respects.  But 
in  May  the  Prince  returned  to  England,  while  the 
Empress  went  to  spend  some  weeks  in  Spain. 

The  visit  to  Italy  had  more  importance  than  would 
appear  at  first  blush.  It  should  be  remembered  that 
in  1875  an  old  soldier  of  the  Second  Empire,  3.[ar- 
shal  MacMahon,  was  President  of  France,  and  that 
in  the  National  Assembly  was  a  strong  and  com- 
pact body  of  deputies  determined  to  bring  back 
the  Empire.  New  Bonapartist  deputies  were  being 
continually  elected,  and  the  republican  party  at 
this  moment  was  very  nervous  about  this  tendency 
of  the  electorate  to  choose  Bonapartists.  This  trip 
to  Italy  indirectly  aided  in  the  political  work  at 
home  by  bringing  the  Prince  Imperial  before  the 
public  of  France  and  Europe  in  general. 

At  Chislehurst,  the  political  visits  which  had  been 
interrupted  by  the  journey  to  Italy,  now  recom- 
menced. The  Prince  Imperial  was  again  visited  by 
his  father's  friends,  and  the  friends  of  his  childhood, 
who  came  to  see  him  one  at  a  time,  whenever  they 
were  free,  for  many  of  them  had  entered  the  mili- 
tary schools.  One  by  one  also  came  the  Deputies 
of  the  Bonapartist  group  in  the  Assembly,  who  had 
long  conversations  with  the  young  Prince.  At  the 
same  time  the  latter  resumed  his  military  studies, 
and  took  part  in  the  sports  which  are  considered 
necessary  to  a  princely  education. 

It  was  at  this  moment  that  the  Prince  Imperial, 
desirous  of  exercising  the  sole  right  which  had  been 
left  to  him  as  a  citizen,  by  tlie  decree  wliieh  exiled 
him,  asked  Prince  Murat  to  represent  liini  on  the 
occasion  of  the  annual  drawing  of  lots  for  conscrip- 

143 


MEMOIRS  OF'  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

tion.  He  was  now  approaching  twenty-one.  The 
Prince's  name  was  not  on  the  list,  however,  and  in 
spite  of  repeated  demands  it  was  not  inserted  soon 
enough  for  him  to  try  his  chance  in  1877.  The  fol^ 
lowing  year,  however,  Prince  Murat,  assisted  by  M. 
Rouher,  was  able  to  fulfil  the  mission  intrusted  to 
him.  When  the  name  of  Bonaparte  was  called,  the 
Prince  advanced  to  the  official  who  was  stationed  in 
the  old  Palace  of  Industry,  where  lots  were  drawn 
for  the  first  ward  of  Paris,  and  drew  the  number 
307.  But  the  law  of  exile  would  permit  the  Prince 
Imperial  to  go  no  further.  He  could  not  enter  the 
French  army,  and  so  a  year  later  he  joined  the  Brit- 
ish forces  in  South  Africa  with  the  tragic  result 
known  to  the  world.  The  Italian  visit  led  up  to  this 
fatal  step,  for  it  was  in  Italy  that  he  conceived  the 
idea  of  going  into  active  military  life,  an  idea  im- 
planted in  his  young  brain  by  his  daily  association 
with  some  of  the  eager  and  ambitious  young  officers 
of  the  King's  fine  army. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  DEATH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPEEIAL 

At  9  o'clock,  on  one  morning  in  March,  1879,  the 
Prince  Imperial,  accompanied  by  the  Empress  and 
a  few  others,  started  from  Chislehurst  on  that  fatal 
journey  to  South  Africa.  The  day  before,  he  wrote 
as  follows  to  Father  Goddard,  of  the  Chislehurst 
church:  "I  trust  you  will  not  think  that  the  haste 
of  my  departure  and  the  many  details  I  must  see  to 
are  causing  me  to  forget  my  duties  as  a  Christian. 
To-morrow  I  shall  go  at  half  past  seven  to  confess 
and  receive  holy  communion  for  the  last  time  in 
Chislehurst  chapel,  where  I  hope  to  be  buried,  if 
I  die."  I  copy  from  the  original  letter,  which  I  saw 
and  which  the  Empress  once  possessed.  Of  course, 
the  latter  felt  quite  unnen^ed  at  his  departure.  But 
the  Prince  appeared  calm  and  energetic.  He  said 
good-by  to  all  who  had  come  to  see  him  off  and  many 
of  whom  were  in  tears.  He  tried  to  comfort  them. 
I  must  confess  that  the  Empress  wept  most  of  the 
way  to  Southampton  and  at  the  dinner,  when  the 
generals  present  drank  her  health  and  that  of  the 
Prince.  When  the  ship  sailed  off,  I  well  remember 
that  she  nearly  fainted  in  the  supporting  arms  of 
dear  friends.  The  Prince  was  much  moved,  but  kept 
a  wonderful  control  over  his  feelings. 

I  have  felt  that  these  memoirs  would  not  be  com- 
plete  without   some   account   of   the   death   of   the 

145 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

Prince  Imperial.     For  this  reason  I  have  inserted 
a  chapter  describing  this  terrible  tragedy. 

My  father  was  a  General  and  Ambassador  of  the 
Second  Empire.  From  boyhood  I  had  been  the  play- 
mate of  the  Prince  Imperial  and  was  one  of  the 
watchers  who  kept  g-uard  over  his  coffin  the  night 
before  the  burial  at  Chislehurst,  July  12,  1879. 

On  May  31,  1879,  the  first  division  of  the  Newdi- 
gate  column  of  the  English  army  was  camping  on 
the  banks  of  the  Blood  River,  in  Cape  Colony.  The 
next  day  the  rest  of  the  column  entered  Zululand 
and  the  two  divisions  started  towards  Itelezi.  The 
Prince  Imperial  and  Lieutenant  Carey  started  at 
half  past  eight,  preceding  the  vanguard.  M.  Paul 
Deleage,  of  the  Figaro,  was  with  them  at  this  mo- 
ment but  hesitated  to  follow  this  reconnoitering 
party,  though  Carey  told  him  they  were  going  only 
a  slight  way  ahead  of  the  main  body,  "only  seven 
or  eight  miles,  when  we  shall  decide  where  the  camp 
shall  be  pitched."  At  this  moment  the  Prince  came 
up  and  said  to  M.  Deleage:  *'Our  little  excursion 
will  not  be  very  interesting  to  you,  you  who  have 
already  gone  so  far  into  Zululand."  The  Prince 
then  asked  for  some  paper  to  write  a  letter  to  Eu- 
rope, saying:  "I  have  just  heard  that  Mr.  Forbes, 
who,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  is  the  correspondent  of 
the  London  Daily  Neivs,  is  returning  to  Landman's 
Drift  this  morning.  I  want  to  ask  him  to  take  a  let- 
ter to  the  camp  post  office,  as  this  will  be  our  last 
chance  to  send  news  to  Europe  for  some  days  to 
come."  The  Prince  then  went  into  a  tent  to  write 
his  letter.  It  was  not  given  to  Mr.  Forbes,  how- 
ever, though  it  did  get  into  the  post  and  reach- 

146 


DEATH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

ed  its  destination.  It  was  the  last  letter  the  unfor- 
tunate Prince  ever  wrote,  and  it  w^as  addressed  to 
his  mother.  ''I  will  not  cross  the  frontier,"  he  wrote 
to  the  Empress,  *' without  giving  you  news  of  me." 
The  letter  bore  the  day  of  the  month,  which  was 
seldom  the  case  in  the  correspondence  of  the  Prince 
Imperial,  and  this  date  was  June  1st.  The  unfor- 
tunate young  man  seemed  to  feel  that  this  was  an 
important  moment  in  his  career,  but  probably  saw 
in  it  only  the  act  of  crossing  into  the  enemy's  coun- 
try. Or  did  he  have  a  presentiment  of  his  approach- 
ing death,  as  so  often  happens  in  war?  The  Em- 
press always  felt  so,  though  the  basis  of  her  opin- 
ion was  the  slim  fact  of  her  son's  having  thus  dated 
his  last  letter  to  her,  and  having  said  therein  one 
or  two  somewhat  mysterious  things,  which,  if  forced 
somewhat,  might  give  color  to  this  idea  of  premoni- 
tion. 

At  the  moment  when  Lord  Chelmsford  left  the 
camp,  following  his  army,  he  asked  w^here  his  young 
staff  officer,  the  Prince  Imperial,  was.  An  officer 
replied:  "Tlie  Prince  is  a  little  in  advance  of  the 
column,  with  Colonel  Harrison."  Tliis  answer  satis- 
fied Lord  Chelmsford,  who  always  felt  the  responsi- 
bility that  lay  upon  him  in  connection  with  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Prince  Imperial  with  the  British  army. 
In  fact,  he  had  received  special  instructions  from 
the  British  government  concerning  the  care  he  was 
to  have  of  the  Prince. 

Colonel  Harrison,  as  was  the  case  that  day,  with 
all  the  staff  officers  of  General  Newdigato,  was  espe- 
cially charged  with  tlie  supervision  of  tlio  march  of 
the  troops  and  the  progress  of  the  wagon  trains ; 
eo  that  he  was  not  obliged  to  be  far  absent  from 

147 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

the  vanguard,  and  could,  consequently,  keep  an  eye 
on  the  Prince.  "Nobody  imagined  that  the  Prince 
and  Lieutenant  Carey  would  go  further  than 
Itelezi,"  said  to  me  one  of  those  present,  "which 
was  to  be  the  camping  place  that  day  of  the  little 
army."  How  happened  it  then  that  orders  were  not 
obeyed  and  that  the  catastrophe  occurred  at  a  con- 
siderable distance  in  advance  of  the  head  of  the 
column  f  Later,  all  the  officers  of  the  staff  were 
questioned  on  this  point,  and  the  Empress,  when  she 
made  her  sad  journey  to  Zululand,  went  over  the 
whole  route  followed  that  day,  but  several  points  in 
that  tragedy  have  never  been  sufficiently  explained 
and  probably  never  will  be.  M.  Deleage  wrote  in 
the  Figaro  an  account  of  all  this,  and  the  gist  of  it 
he  has  repeated  to  me  on  more  than  one  occasion. 
On  this  point  he  said  to  me : 

"I  was  with  Colonel  Montgomery  when  he 
reached  the  Itelezi  hill  and  looked  round  for  the 
Prince.  I  saw  Lord  Chelmsford  and  Colonel  Har- 
rison, but  I  did  not  see  the  Prince  Imperial.  I  im- 
mediately concluded  that  the  Prince  and  Lieutenant 
Carey  were  awaiting  us  on  the  spot  chosen  for  the 
camp.  A  little  further  on  I  met  Captain  Stanley, 
correspondent  of  the  London  Standard,  who  said  to 
me: 

"  'Don't  go  any  further;  we  are  stopping  here.' 

"  'I  don't  think  that  can  be  so,'  I  answered,  'for 
if  this  were  the  spot,  as  I  got  here  first,  I  should 
have  seen  the  Prince  Imperial  and  Lieutenant 
Carey,  who  came  forward  to  select  the  spot  for  the 
camp.' 

"  'Doesn't  the  Prince  wear  yellow  boots!'  asked 
the  Captain. 

148 


DEATH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

"  *Yes,'  I  answered. 

*'  'Then  he  is  with  the  Lancers,  for  I  have  just 
seen  with  them  a  young  officer  that  corresponds  to 
your  description  of  the  Prince  Imperial.' 

''From  other  inquiries  which  I  made  during  the 
afternoon,  I  was  satisfied  that  the  Prince  was  with 
us,  until  towards  evening,  w^hen  I  had  just  entered 
the  tent  of  Lieutenant  Trench,  another  English  of- 
ficer hurried  up  and,  to  my  astonishment,  exclaimed : 

"  'The  Prince  Imperial  has  been  killed!' 

"  'Please  repeat  that  in  French,'  I  said,  seizing 
the  officer  by  the  arm. 

"He  did  so,  whereupon  I  hastened  to  headquar- 
ters, where  I  found  Lord  Chelmsford  standing  in 
front  of  his  tent,  and,  before  I  put  him  the  question, 
I  could  see  by  the  troubled  expression  of  his  face 
that  the  news  was  only  too  true. 

"  'I  have  just  learned,'  said  his  Lordship,  'that 
the  Prince's  horse  returned  riderless,  following 
those  of  the  little  band  who  had  escaped  from  the 
Zulus.  There  is  the  tent  where  you  will  find  Lieu- 
tenant Carey,  who  can  give  you  fuller  details.' 

"I  found  Carey  dining  quietly  with  Colonel  Har- 
rison and  another  officer.  At  first,  he  was  unwilling 
to  leave  the  table,  but  when  I  told  him  that  it  was 
not  as  a  journalist  that  I  presented  myself,  but  as 
a  Frenchman  anxious  to  know  the  truth  about  a  dis- 
aster which  had  befallen  one  of  my  countrjTncn,  the 
lieutenant  consented  to  speak;  and  this  is  what  he 
said : 

"  'After  having  fixed  on  the  place  for  that  night's 
camp — the  very  spot  where  we  now  are — the  Prince 
and  myself,  accompanied  by  six  men  and  a  Kaffir 
guide,  pushed  on  eleven  miles  further.    Toward  two 

149 


MEMOIRS  OP  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

in  the  afternoon  we  stopped  in  a  kraal  to  sketch  the 
site  of  the  second  camp,  while  the  men  were  engaged 
in  making  the  coffee.  Toward  half  past  three,  at 
the  very  moment  when  we  were  remounting,  we 
were  surprised  by  a  band  of  Kaffirs,  whom  we  had 
not  discovered,  owing  to  the  high  grass  and  maize 
in  which  they  were  hidden.  We  all  sprang  to  our 
horses.  After  crossing  a  deep  donga,  I  turned  and 
looked  back,  when  I  saw  coming  out  of  another  point 
of  the  donga  the  Prince's  horse  without  his  rider. 
The  Kaffir  and  two  of  our  men  are  also  missing, 
about  whom  I  know  as  little  as  about  the  Prince.' 

''I  was  exasperated  almost  beyond  control  by  the 
offhand  manner  and  tone  of  Lieutenant  Carey,  and 
I  held  back  with  difficulty  the  cutting  remarks  which 
were  on  the  tip  of  my  tongue. 

''What  was  to  be  done  so  late  in  the  day?  Could 
search  parties  be  sent  out  into  an  unkno^vn  region 
in  the  night?  Or  should  they  simply  wait  for  the 
return  of  the  Prince  and  the  missing  men,  whom 
all  still  hoped  to  see  come  back  alive?  The  ques- 
tion was  carefully  examined  in  all  its  aspects  and 
the  officers  then  reluctantly  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  they  must  wait  till  daylight  before  acting. 

"  'But,'  objected  M.  Deleage,  'let  me  point  out 
that  it  is  a  beautiful  moonlight  night.  A  trail  can 
be  followed.  Perhaps  the  Prince  is  only  a  mile  or 
two  away — he  may  be  wounded  and  dying.  We  might 
yet  save  him  from  mutilation  and  birds  of  prey.'  " 
The  Figaro  correspondent  added,  when  he  gave  me 
the  account:  "Cold  and  matter-of-fact  reasons 
were  given  why  this  could  not  be  done,  and  seeing 
that  it  was  useless  to  insist  further,  I  impatiently 
waited  for  the  morning  to  break." 

150 


DEATH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

It  was  then  decided  that  all  the  cavalry,  under 
the  orders  of  General  Marshall,  should  start  out  at 
five  in  the  morning.  Deleage  was,  of  course,  ready 
at  the  appointed  hour,  it  having  been  consented  to 
that  he  accompany  the  expedition.  While  he  was 
taking  a  cup  of  tea,  he  learned  that  the  hour  for 
starting  had  been  adjourned  till  nine.  Amazed  and 
angered,  he  sought  out  the  correspondent  of  the 
Daily  News  and  begged  him  to  intervene  in  favor  of 
the  earlier  hour.  This  was  done,  and  the  troops 
finally  got  under  way  at  seven  o  'clock.  M,  Deleage 's 
narration  continues  as  follows : 

"I  marched  with  the  scouts  at  the  head  of  the  col- 
umn. One  of  these  was  a  native  of  Mauritius,  who 
spoke  French  perfectly  and  who,  the  day  before, 
had  been  one  of  the  Prince's  escort.  He  told  me 
he  saw  the  Prince  try  to  get  on  his  horse  in  the 
donga  and  related  many  other  sadly  interesting  in- 
cidents of  the  fatal  day.  As  the  horses  descended 
the  slope  into  this  donga,  they  stopped  suddenly  in 
front  of  a  naked  corpse,  which  was  hideously  muti- 
lated. The  body  was  veiy  large  and  all  saw  at  a 
glance  that  it  was  not  that  of  the  Prince.  Sud- 
denly a  trooper  who  was  following  the  edge  of  the 
ravine  cried  out  that  ho  saw  another  body.  We  all 
pushed  forward,  and  even  from  a  distance,  we  recog- 
nized the  slender  form  of  the  young  Prince.  He 
was  lying  on  his  back,  with  his  arms,  stiffened  by 
death,  slightly  crossed  over  the  chest,  and  his  head 
bent  a  little  to  the  right.  The  face  bore  no  signs 
of  pain.  The  moutli  was  partly  open.  The  right 
eye  had  been  carried  away  by  a  blow  from  an 
assagai,  but  the  left  eye  was  intact  and  k)()ked  forth 
with  a  gentle  gaze.   On  liis  chest  were  seventeen  or 

151 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

eighteen  assagai  wounds.  The  abdomen  had  been  cut 
open,  as  is  the  custom  with  these  savages,  but  con- 
trary to  habit,  the  bowels  had  not  been  removed.  Dr. 
Scott  and  myself  examined  the  body  to  see  if  there 
were  any  wounds  in  the  back,  our  object  being  to 
learn  whether  he  had  been  prevented  from  mount- 
ing his  horse.  The  only  wounds  in  the  back  were 
those  of  the  assagai  points  which  had  gone  clean 
through  the  chest.  His  death — and  these  are  the 
words  which  I  said  to  the  Empress,  when,  later,  I 
gave  her  a  description  of  the  whole  terrible  scene — • 
had  been  that  of  a  brave  man,  his  face  turned  to- 
wards the  enemy.  As  we  raised  the  Prince's  head, 
our  attention  was  drawn  to  the  little  gold  chain 
which  he  always  wore  around  his  neck  and  to  which 
were  fastened  several  Catholic  medals  and  the  seal 
brought  back  from  Eg^^pt  by  General  Bonaparte. 
Was  it  fear  of  these  amulets  w^hich  prevented  the 
Zulus  from  carrying  them  otf  I  Probably.  Captain 
Molyneux  picked  them  carefully  up  and  sent  them 
eventually  to  the  Empress,  who  also  received,  later, 
the  Prince's  sword,  which  Lord  Chelmsford  ob- 
tained, after  negotiations  with  the  Zulu  chiefs. 

"In  the  meanwhile,  nearly  all  the  soldiers  and  of- 
ficers of  the  expedition  had  assembled  in  the  donga 
and  stood  with  uncovered  heads  around  the  body  of 
the  first  victim  of  the  war.  The  Prince's  eyelids 
were  closed  and  his  body  was  wrapped  in  a  blanket 
taken  from  one  of  the  horses.  At  a  short  distance, 
an  ambulance  wagon  was  waiting.  The  body  was 
carefully  fastened  to  an  improvised  stretcher 
formed  of  lances  and  borne  by  officers  to  the  wagon, 
perhaps  a  mile  away.  Three  hours  later,  the  sad 
procession  had  reached  the  camp,  and  the  remains 

152 


DEATH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

of  the  dead  Prince  were  laid  under  a  staff  tent.  At 
first,  it  was  proposed  to  bury  him  at  the  camp  and 
soldiers  stood  ready,  spade  in  hand,  to  dig  the  grave. 
But,  after  further  consultation,  it  was  finally  de- 
cided to  send  the  body  to  Durban,  where  a  man  of 
war  was  ready  to  transfer  it  to  England.  A  funeral 
took  place  at  the  camp.  The  ceremony  was  very 
simple  but  very  impressive.  The  body,  covered  with 
a  tricolor  flag,  was  borne  away  on  a  gun-carriage, 
saluted  by  the  whole  British  army.  Tliis  flag  was 
later  deposited  at  Chislehurst." 

In  just  what  manner  did  the  Prince  Imperial  meet 
his  death?  This  question  was  asked  then,  has  often 
been  asked  since  and  will  probably  be  asked  in  the 
future.  But  an  exact  and  categorical  answer  to  it 
cannot  be  given  and  perhaps  never  will  be  given. 
Three  classes  of  evidence  have  been  gathered  on 
the  subject.  In  the  first  place,  there  were  the  wit- 
nesses of  the  tragedy  who  were  with  the  Prince  and 
who  spoke  immediately  thereafter.  Then  there  is 
the  report  of  the  official  Committee  of  Inquiry,  and 
finally  the  information  furnished  to  the  Empress 
when  she  visited  the  Cape  in  1880.  I  have  sifted  all 
this  testimony  and  frequently  spoken  with  the  Em- 
press on  the  subject,  and  this  is  my  conclusion. 

A  few  minutes  before  leaving  Koppei-Allein, 
Lieutenant  Carey  and  tlie  Prince  said  they  were 
not  going  further  than  Itelezi,  which  was  to  be  oc- 
cupied during  the  day.  The  officers  of  the  British 
army,  who  were  especially  concerned  in  tlie  safety 
of  the  Prince,  all  supposed  tliat  he  was  not  going  so 
far  as  the  Ityotyosi  valley,  where  the  fatality  oc- 
curred. M.  Deleage  sliared  this  belief.  AVliat  liap- 
pened  afterwards!     AVere  the   orders  given  them 

153 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

changed,  or  did  they  themselves,  while  on  the  way, 
decide  to  modify  these  orders?  How  happened  it 
that  the  Prince  was  killed  eleven  miles  from  the  spot 
where  he  was  supposed  to  be  and  w^here  he  was 
sought  for  ?  The  inquest  gave  no  satisfactory  reply 
to  these  questions. 

Wlien  Lieutenant  Carey  reached  England,  he  said 
that  Colonel  Harrison  gave  him  these  orders :  "To- 
morrow, the  Prince  will  reconnoiter  the  road  which 
you  have  chosen,  so  as  to  be  sure  of  the  way  to  the 
spot  for  the  camp.  You  Avill  remain  at  the  camp 
and  finish  your  map."  And  he  replied:  "To-mor- 
row, as  the  column  will  be  on  the  march,  I  shall  not 
be  able  to  do  much  on  my  map.  AVill  you  permit  me 
to  accompany  the  Prince,  as  I  should  like  to  go  over 
the  ground  again  in  order  to  verify  certain  details 
about  which  I  am  not  perfectly  sure?"  Colonel 
Harrison,  after  hesitating  slightly,  said:  "Very 
well,  you  may  go." 

Why  should  there  have  been  any  hesitation  about 
allowing  Lieutenant  Carey  to  accompany  the  Prince 
on  an  expedition  which  was,  after  all,  more  particu- 
larly entrusted  to  the  lieutenant  himself?  Why 
were  such  vague  expressions  used  in  England  by 
Lieutenant  Carey  to  explain  what  the  Prince's  pur- 
pose was  in  thus  going  in  advance  of  the  column! 
From  what  the  lieutenant  said  to  Colonel  Harrison, 
it  is  plain,  it  seems  to  us,  that  this  was  to  be  a  recon- 
noissance  of  a  road  which  the  lieutenant  had  gone 
over  the  day  before.  Carey  continues,  still  in  rather 
ambiguous  terms:  "The  Prince  was  carrying  out 
a  special  mission,  entrusted  to  him  alone,  and  I  ac- 
companied him  merely  to  get  the  benefit  of  his  escort 
while  I  was  performing  a  work  which  was  quite  per- 

154 


DEATH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

sonal  to  me."  The  fact  is  that  the  ''special  mis- 
sion" of  the  Prince  was  very  simple,  provided  it 
were  not  modified,  which  was,  it  seems,  mysteriously 
the  case.  He  was  to  move  at  some  distance  ahead  of 
the  main  body,  designate  the  spot  of  the  first  camp- 
ing place,  and  stop  there.  It  was  not  considered  a 
dangerous  mission,  as  no  orders  had  been  given  for 
a  special  escort.  It  would  look  as  though  the  plan 
were  modified  by  Lieutenant  Carey,  for  this  is  what 
he  says:  ''On  the  previous  day,  I  had  been  on 
horseback  two  miles  beyond  the  kraal  which  we  had 
in  front  of  us,  and  when  I  told  Lord  Chelmsford  of 
the  road  I  had  chosen,  he  remarked  that  there  was 
a  donga  thirty  feet  wide  and  asked  me  how  I  was 
going  to  get  the  troops  over  it."  Lieutenant  Carey 
wished  to  look  into  the  matter  again;  but  as  it  was 
hard  to  get  staff  officers  to  furnish  an  escort,  he 
thought  it  would  be  easier  to  obtain  what  he  wanted 
in  the  Prince's  name ;  and  he  felt  pretty  certain  that, 
once  arrived  at  Itelezi,  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  get 
the  Prince  to  accompany  him  to  Ityotyosi.  By 
hurrying  a  little,  they  could  get  back  to  the  camp 
before  anybody  would  be  aware  of  their  absence. 
Such  was  Carey's  plan,  as  he  himself  states. 

The  Empress  collected  all  that  was  written  on  the 
subject  of  her  son's  death  and  guarded  as  treasures 
all  the  souvenirs  of  that  terrible  tragedy.  I  am 
using  these  materials  in  this  chapter.  Thus  it  is 
that  I  learn  from  a  Daily  News  correspondent  this 
description  of  the  volunteers  of  this  expedition.  He 
says  on  this  point :  "These  volunteers  are  a  strange 
mixture  of  Dutchmen,  Germans,  Frenchmen,  Afri- 
can colonists,  and  English  deserters,  the  flotsam  and 
jetsam  of  all  countries  who,  after  thousands  of  ad- 

155 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

ventures,  have  finally  landed  in  Natal.  The  insub- 
ordinate spirit  which  prevails  among  most  of  these 
men  renders  them  almost  useless  and  their  officers 
have  no  authority  over  them.  Such  were  the  men 
forming  the  Prince's  escort  w^hen  he  set  out  on  the 
fatal  expedition.  It  is  true  that  Shepstone,  head 
volunteer,  had  been  ordered  to  send  along  five  Ba- 
sutos.  But  he  did  not  obey  orders;  he  sent  no  one, 
and  the  Prince,  after  waiting  some  time,  started 
with  his  six  horsemen  and  Lieutenant  Carey,  who 
was  taking  a  Zulu  friend  w^ith  him.  It  has  well 
been  asked  how  the  Prince  could  command  a  recon- 
noitering  party,  as  he  had  no  regular  commission 
and  especially  as  he  had  no  experience  in  this  sort 
of  service.  It  is  true  that  Lieutenant  Carey,  with 
his  large  knowledge  of  this  kind  of  work,  could  be 
of  aid  to  him,  though  he  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  so.  It  appears  also  that  at  the  critical  moment, 
none  of  their  guns  were  charged,  though  the  Mar- 
tini carbines  are  very  rapidly  loaded.  General 
Wood  made  an  estimate  and  thought  that  the  num- 
ber of  Zulus  who  attacked  the  Prince's  party  must 
have  been  about  thirty.  It  has  never  been  con- 
sidered that  this  was  too  large  a  number  to  have 
been  held  in  check  by  a  body  of  eight  Europeans 
armed  with  carbines  and  revolvers  and  provided 
with  horses." 

So  the  Prince  started  with  six  men  as  escort  and 
a  guide  in  order  to  enable,  it  would  appear,  an  offi- 
cer to  rectify  topographical  notes  which  had  been 
hastily  jotted  down  the  day  before.  Carey  said 
afterwards  that  he  was  not  in  command  of  the  little 
expedition,  and,  consequently,  was  not  responsible 
for  what  happened  afterwards.    But  it  is  plain  that 

156 


DEATH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAI; 

if  the  Prince  consented  to  go  beyond  Itelezi,  it  was 
solely  to  please  Carey.  The  Prince's  mission  did 
not  take  him  to  Ityotyosi;  the  lieutenant  alone  was 
interested  in  going  there.  But,  in  reality,  the  Prince 
was  commanding  only  by  courtesy.  The  fact  that  an 
English  officer  of  the  same  rank  was  present,  really 
made  this  officer  the  commander  of  the  mission. 
Carey  even  said  the  next  day  to  Deleage,  as  they 
were  going  to  seek  the  body,  who  afterwards  re- 
peated it  to  me :  "  I  am  sure  that  if  I  had  said  that  I 
was  willing  to  wait  for  a  larger  escort,  no  one  would 
have  found  fault.  But  the  Prince  was  anxious  to 
start  and  I  did  not  wish  to  impose  on  him  my  authoi- 
ity."  However  that  may  be,  the  little  mission  stopped 
only  about  an  hour  at  Itelezi,  and  then  moved  on. 
Who  gave  the  order  for  them  to  start  forward?  Was 
it  the  Prince?  Or  was  it  both  acting  in  unison?  Carey 
says  it  was  the  Prince.  Anyway,  they  soon  reached 
the  heights  which  look  down  into  the  valley  where 
runs  the  river  Ityotyosi,  and  there  they  stopped, 
while  the  Prince  began  to  draw  and  the  lieutenant 
noted  on  his  map  the  different  halting  places.  They 
even  examined  through  their  glasses  the  region 
round  about  and  saw  nothing  to  awaken  suspicion 
Then  they  slowly  descended  from  the  hills  into  the 
valley  and  decided  to  rest  their  horses  on  the  river 
bank.  Carey  admits  that  no  precautions  were  taken 
against  an  attack,  for  they,  of  course,  never  im- 
agined that  any  Zulus  were  in  the  neighborhood. 
The  horses  were  even  unsaddled  and  left  in  a  kraal, 
l)y  the  order  of  the  Prince,  says  Carey!  The  Prince 
sat  down  on  the  ground  to  rest,  Carey  used  his 
glasses  and  the  men  engaged  in  making  coffee;  and 
all  this  went  on  in  the  enemy's  country,  with  no- 

157 


MEMOIES  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

body  on  the  outlook,  while  round  about  them  were 
high  grasses  and  hillocks!  Later,  after  the  catas- 
trophe, Carey  tried  to  shift  from  his  own  shoulders 
the  responsibility  of  this  unmilitary  conduct,  and 
said  to  some  newspaper  correspondents  in  England : 
*'I  did  not  select  the  spot  where  we  halted.  I 
wanted  to  stop  on  a  height.  But  the  Prince  ordered 
that  we  rest  in  a  narrow  valley.  It  was  not  for 
me  to  object,  especially  as  he  was  very  fond  of  com- 
manding and  would  not  have  liked  it  if  I  had  made 
any  contrar^^  suggestions."  Two  days  later,  he 
was  worried  over  this  statement  and  modified  it 
somewhat  in  conversation  with  a  correspondent  of 
the  London  Daily  Nexvs,  to  whom  he  said:  "I  wish 
it  to  be  clearly  understood  that  I  do  not  in  any  way 
blame  the  unfortunate  Prince  for  the  choice  of  the 
spot  where  we  unsaddled,  for  which,  perhaps,  we 
were  all  more  or  less  responsible." 

But  carelessness  is  not  the  only  charge  that  lies 
on  Lieutenant  Carey  in  this  lamentable  affair.  He 
must  also  exonerate  himself  from  a  still  heavier  one, 
that  of  cowardice.  The  Zulus  reached  the  kraai 
when  the  horses  had  been  resaddled  and  the  little 
troop  was  preparing  to  start.  Their  attack  was 
very  sudden.  What  happened  to  the  Prince  at  that 
moment  and  how  was  he  left  behind?  There  are 
several  versions  and  Carey's  official  report.  They 
do  not  all  agree.  The  lieutenant's  first  version  was 
that  he  had  seen  the  Prince  fall  dead,  wounded  by 
a  ball  that  had  gone  straight  through  his  heart.  Lie 
explained  his  own  precipitate  flight  as  being  due  to 
the  fact  that  he  had  seen  his  fellow  officer  killed. 
But  when  he  got  back  to  the  camp,  he  was  less  af- 
firmative on  this  point.    He  now  said  that  he  sup- 

158 


DEATH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

posed  that  the  Prince  had  been  killed  in  the  kraal, 
but  he  could  not  tell  exactly  how.  The  following 
day,  when  the  spot  was  examined,  it  became  clear 
that  little  could  have  been  kno\\Ti  of  what  really 
happened  there,  because  of  the  nature  of  the  ground 
which  hid  every  movement.  Astounded  by  the  sud- 
denness of  the  attack,  it  is  evident  that  every  man 
was  looking  out  for  himself,  and  the  Prince,  for 
the  moment,  was  quite  forgotten  both  by  the  officer 
and  the  men.  At  the  instant  of  the  flight,  Carey  was 
quite  close  to  the  Prince  and  dashed  off  at  a  gallop, 
closely  followed  by  four  of  the  men.  When  the 
Prince's  horse  saw  the  other  horses  starting,  he 
started,  too,  as  is  the  habit  with  colonial  horses, 
accustomed  to  moving  in  concert.  But  the  Prince 
quickly  overtook  his  horse  and  seizing  one  of  the 
munition  bags  managed  to  hold  on  for  a  few  sec- 
onds, and  was  in  the  act  of  jumping  into  the  saddle 
when  one  of  the  leather  thongs  holding  the  bag  to 
the  saddle  gave  w^ay  and  precipitated  the  rider  to 
the  ground.  Left  alone  he  turned  and  faced  the 
enemy,  determined  to  sell  his  life  as  dearly  as  pos- 
sible.   Such  is  one  of  the  versions. 

It  was  supposed  by  some  that  the  Prince  fell  at 
the  first  attack,  tlie  position  of  the  body  and  the 
expression  of  the  face  seeming  to  prove  this.  Drs. 
Scott  and  Robinson  of  the  17th  Lancers  thought 
that  the  assagai,  which  struck  the  riglit  eye  and  cut 
into  the  brain,  had  been  thrown  from  a  distance  and 
must  have  produced  instantaneous  death.  Of  course 
everybody  hoped  that  this  was  so.  But  tlio  narra- 
tion of  the  Zulu  chiefs  and  what  the  Empress 
learned  when  she  visited  the  spot  do  not  seem,  un- 
fortunately, to  carry  out  tliis  supposition.    The  re- 

159 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

port  of  Captain  Mohneux,  aide  de  camp  of  Lord 
Chelmsford,  who  had  been  charged  to  find  the  body 
of  the  Prince,  also  appears  to  support  this  version. 
His  observations  forced  him  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  fight  had  been  a  desperate  one.  The  damp  soil 
of  the  donga  showed  the  marks  of  the  Prince's  boots, 
with  the  soles  stained  wdth  blood.  There  were  blood- 
stains also  on  the  stirrup  straps,  which  were  also 
besmeared  with  mud.  To  Captain  Molyneux,  this 
meant  that  the  Prince  had  been  seriously  wounded 
before  death  came.  He  also  noted,  what  has  already 
been  said,  that  the  wounds  were  all  received  in  front, 
and  that  the  left  arm,  even  after  death,  was  in  a 
warding-otf  position,  the  forearm  being  lacerated 
with  numerous  assagai  thrusts.  The  right  arm  was 
striped  with  longitudinal  cuts.  These  facts  show 
that  the  unfortunate  young  man  used  his  left  arm 
as  a  shield,  held  his  sword  in  the  right,  and  fought 
with  the  energ\^  of  despair.  Captain  Molyneux 's 
hypothesis  seems  to  be  based  on  sohd  fact.  Later 
testimony  carries  it  out.  The  report  drawn  up  at 
Woohvich  on  July  12,  1879,  by  Drs.  Larey  and  Cor- 
visart,  reaches  the  same  conclusion. 

I  have  spoken  with  some  of  the  volunteers,  and 
the  following  facts  are  gathered  from  what  they 
told  me. 

Sergeant  Willis  said  to  me : 

''We  descended  a  hill  to  a  kraal  about  a  hundred 
yards  from  the  Imbazani  river.  The  kraal  contained 
four  or  five  huts.  There  was  clear  ground  in  front 
but  high  grass  and  standing  crops  all  around  the 
other  sides.  We  were  ordered  by  the  Prince  to  off- 
saddle  and,  after  knee  haltering,  turned  our  horses 
into  the  grass,  while  we  lay  down  outside  the  huts 

160 


DEATH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAl. 

and  took  some  coffee.  At  four,  we  were  ordered  to 
saddle,  as  our  Kaffir  said  he  had  seen  a  Zulu  across 
the  river  going  up  the  hill  opposite.  Just  as  we 
mounted,  a  sudden  volley  was  fired.  I  saw  two  men 
fall  from  their  horses,  but  I  cannot  say  who  they 
were,  because  I  was  galloping  hard.  About  fifty 
yards  in  front  was  a  deep  donga  where  we  caught  up 
to  Lieutenant  Carey.  The  Zulus  continued  firing  at 
us  for  two  hundred  yards  and  yelling  all  the  time. 
From  the  shots,  I  should  say  we  had  some  fifty  of 
them  after  us." 

Corporal  Grubb  said  to  me : 

"When  we  arrived  at  the  kraal,  we  found  dogs 
there  and  traces  of  recent  habitation  by  the  Zulus. 
At  the  first  shot,  I  saw  Rogers  fall,  and  then  Letoga 
rushed  by  me  crying:  'The  Prince  has  been 
wounded. '  I  looked  back  and  saw  the  Prince  clutch- 
ing at  his  stirrup  and  caught  beneath  his  horse, 
which  was  galloping  otf.  A  moment  later,  the 
Prince  fell  and  the  horse  seemed  to  trample  on  him. 
I  wanted  to  fire  on  the  Zulus,  but  my  horse  stumbled 
in  the  ravine  and  my  gun  slipped  from  my  hands. 
When  I  got  over  my  first  fright,  I  noticed  the 
Prince's  horse  at  my  side.  Lieutenant  Carey  or- 
dered us  to  catch  it." 

Trooper  Cockrane  said  to  me: 
"As  I  was  crossing  the  donga  about  fifty  yards 
from  the  kraal,  I  saw  the  Prince  on  foot,  the  Zulus 
pressing  near  to  him  and  his  horse  fleeing  in  an  op- 
posite direction.  1  saw  nothing  more  of  the  Prince 
after  that.  We  made  no  effort  to  help  him,  because 
we  were  but  three  and  all  separated.  We  galloped 
about  two  miles  without  stopping." 
Private  Letoga  said : 

161 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

''When  we  passed  near  the  Prince,  who  was  hold- 
ing on  to  the  strap  of  his  stirrup  and  trying  to  get 
into  the  saddle,  I  said  to  him:  'Please  make  haste 
to  mount,  sir.'  He  made  no  reply.  He  was  not 
holding  the  bridle.  I  saw  him  fall.  His  horse  tram- 
pled on  him." 

Such  were  the  significant  bits  of  conversation 
which  I  had  with  these  men.  What  they  said  throws 
a  sad  light  on  this  cruel  tragedy. 

Lieutenant  Carey's  reprehensible  conduct  in  this 
sad  affair  has  been  explained  in  an  odd  fashion  by 
some  of  his  critics.  They  ask  if  he  was  not  a  traitor, 
drawing  the  Prince  into  an  ambush  and  then  clever- 
ly escaping  himself.  This  hypothesis  is  supported, 
it  is  held,  by  a  fragTnent  of  a  letter  from  the  Prince 
saying  that  the  foreign  contingent  of  the  British 
army  contained  some  very  strange  Frenchmen, 
while  it  is  suggested  that  the  Internationale — the 
revolutionary  working-men's  organization — was  re- 
sponsible for  this  fatal  expedition,  and  that  the 
Prince's  death  had  been  decreed  by  its  body  of  di- 
rectors. But  this  assertion  cannot  be  taken  seri- 
ously, though  the  fact  remains  that  it  has  been  re- 
peated over  and  over  again.  The  legend  has,  how- 
ever, taken  deep  root  in  France,  and  many  of  those" 
who  have  remained  faithful  to  the  Imperial  family 
cannot  free  their  minds  entirely  from  it. 

When  the  news  of  the  death  of  the  Prince  reached' 
England,  there  was  great  commotion  in  official  army 
circles.  A  discussion  immediately  began,  which  con- 
tinued for  a  long  time,  to  decide  where  the  responsi- 
bility for  the  disaster  should  be  placed.  The  then 
British  Minister  of  War,  the  late  Lord  Stanley  of 
Preston,  made  a  statement  in  Parliament  on  the  sub- 

162 


DEATH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

ject,  and  on  one  occasion  said  much  the  same  thing 
to  the  Empress  in  my  presence.  The  following  is 
my  note  of  the  conversation,  made  at  the  time : 

"Your  Majesty  will  remember  that  the  Prince 
started  for  Zululand  without  a  commission  or  any 
definite  military  position,  to  follow  Lord  Chelms- 
ford's staff.  Chelmsford  had  received  careful  in- 
structions concerning  him  from  the  Duke  of  Cam- 
bridge, the  commander  of  our  army.  Chelmsford 
was  expected  to  have  the  Prince  near  him  and  to 
keep  an  eye  on  him;  and  so  far  as  we  know,  that  is 
just  what  he  did  do.  But,  of  course,  the  post  of 
staff  officer,  especially  in  such  a  country  as  South 
Africa,  is  not  the  safest.  I  have  seen  Chelmsford's 
instructions  to  Colonel  Harrison,  and  it  results  from 
them  that  Chelmsford,  in  transferring  the  Prince  to 
a  special  staff,  had  not  abandoned  the  idea  of  keep- 
ing him  as  his  special  charge.  I  know  that  he  was 
constantly  thinking  of  him.  Your  Majesty  will  re- 
member that  on  the  morning  of  June  1st  Chelmsford 
asked  where  the  Prince  was  and  was  satisfied  when 
he  learned  that  Colonel  Harrison  had  him  in  ad- 
vance of  the  main  column.  But  he  did  not  know 
that  the  Prince  had  been  chosen  to  make  a  recon- 
noissance.  I  am  told  that  Lord  Chelmsford  was 
charmed  by  the  courage  and  pleasing  personality  of 
the  Prince  and  gradually  gave  him  more  liberty  than 
had  been  the  case  at  first.  The  Prince  even  took 
part  in  some  of  General  Wood's  column  movements. 
Wood  is  an  officer  of  great  energy,  though,  perhaps, 
a  little  rash.  On  May  20th  we  had  a  telegram  from 
Lord  Chelmsford  on  the  subject,  in  which  he  said 
that  one  of  those  reconnoissances,  in  which  the 
Prince  took  part,  nearly  met  with  disaster,  and  then 

163 


MEMOIRS  OP  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

he  adds:  'I  will  try  that  such  a  thing  doesn't  hap- 
pen again ;  I  do  not  want  him  to  be  exposed  in  such 
a  manner.'  " 

The  Empress  was  much  moved  when  she  was 
shown  this  telegram.  She  well  knew  the  character 
of  her  son,  how  he  sought  every  occasion  to  distin- 
guish himself,  and  that  nothing  would  hold  him 
back  from  going  where  he  thought  duty  called.  On 
the  occasion  mentioned  above,  the  Prince,  indeed,  es- 
caped only  by  a  miracle,  and  it  might  have  been 
hoped  that  after  such  an  experience,  Lord  Chelms- 
ford would,, in  fact,  have  kept  the  young  man  bj^  his 
side.  Many  Bonapartists  who  did  not  know  the 
Prince's  impetuosity  and  desire  to  shine  wondered 
that  he  remained  attached  to  Wood's  column,  and 
great  displeasure  would  have  been  felt  if  they  had 
been  aware  of  the  fact  that  Colonel  Harrison  had 
intrusted  him  with  a  reconnoitering  mission  in  ad- 
vance of  the  column.  But  this  was  not  made  public 
until  the  telegram  was  received  announcing  his 
death. 

Sir  Evelyn  Wood  always  remained  on  the  friend- 
liest terms  with  the  Empress.  He  lived,  after  his 
retirement  from  the  army,  near  Aldershot,  and 
often  came  over  to  Farnborough  on  Sundays  to  see 
the  Empress.  On  more  than  one  occasion,  the  Prince 
Imperial  was  the  subject  of  conversation,  and  I  was 
careful,  when  I  happened  to  be  present,  to  make 
notes  of  what  he  said.  One  evening.  General  Wood 
said :  ' '  The  Prince  made  a  deep  impression  on  me. 
His  thoughts  and  habits  w^ere  those  of  a  true  soldier. 
He  was  never  weary  in  his  efforts  to  acquire  experi- 
ence and  military  knowledge;  I  remember  that  he 
accompanied  General  Redvers  Buller  on  several  pa- 

164 


DEATH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

trols  during  the  Zulu  war,  and  on  his  return  from 
one  of  these  expeditions,  I  made  this  remark  to  him 
during  dinner : '  Well,  so  you  have  not  been  struck  by 
anassagai  yet!'  'No,'  he  replied;  'but  though  I 
am  in  no  hurry  to  be  killed,  I  would  prefer  to  fall 
under  an  assagai  than  from  a  bullet,  for  the  first 
form  of  death  would  prove  that  I  had  met  the  enemy 
face  to  face.'  This  conversation  was  a  sad  coinci- 
dence." 

Colonel  Villiers  was  designated  by  the  late  Queen 
Victoria  to  collect  from  the  Zulu  chiefs  all  the  de- 
tails of  the  Prince  Imperial's  death.  Later,  Colonel 
Villiers  was  the  military  attache  at  the  British  em- 
bassy at  Paris,  and  on  one  occasion  I  heard  him  tell 
the  story  as  he  learned  it  from  the  lips  of  the  sav- 
ages: 

"The  Zulus,  they  told  me,"  the  Colonel  began, 
"first  rushed  after  the  tw^o  fleeing  soldiers  on  the 
flank,  and  then  three  or  four  others,  headed  by  La- 
banga,  turned  on  the  retreating  Prince.  They  say 
his  horse  shied  at  the  very  moment  when  they  saw 
he  was  going  to  mount,  and  that  the  baggage  roll 
at  the  back  of  the  saddle  gave  way  as  the  Prince 
grasped  it  and  the  consequence  was  that  he  fell  to 
the  ground.  At  this  moment,  the  Zulus  declare,  he 
was  only  about  sixty-five  yards  from  his  comrades 
who  were  galloping  away.  Seven  savages  attacked 
the  Prince.  Langalobeje  says  that  when  he  first 
caught  sight  of  La})anga,  he  was  rushing  on  the 
Prince,  who  came  forward  boldly  to  meet  him. 
Thereupon,  Labanga  ci'ouched  down  in  the  high 
grass  and  threw  an  assagai  at  his  foe,  which  struck 
the  Prince  in  the  thigh.  But  he  pulled  it  from  the 
wound  and  used  the  weapon  to  keep  his  enemies  at 

]65 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

bay,  wMcli  he  succeeded  in  doing  for  several  min- 
utes, I  remember  the  exact  words  of  one  of  the 
Zulus.  He  said:  'He  fought  like  a  tiger.  He  fired 
his  revolver  twice  but  did  not  hit  any  of  us.  Though 
one  of  my  assagais  hit  him,  it  was  Labanga  who  had 
the  right  to  say  that  he  killed  him,  for  his  weapon 
struck  the  Prince  on  the  left  shoulder  and  gave  him 
a  mortal  wound.  Then  we  rushed  on  him.  But  up 
to  that  time  he  had  defended  himself  so  well  that 
we  kept  at  a  distance, '  Another  of  them  said  to  me : 
'If  we  had  known  that  he  was  called  Napoleon,  we 
would  have  spared  him.'  " 

After  making  an  official  report  on  the  subject. 
Colonel  Villiers  went  in  person  and  gave  all  the  de- 
tails to  the  Empress,  bringing  with  him  the  clothes 
of  the  Prince,  which  he  had  found  in  the  possession 
of  the  Zulus.  The  garments  were  torn  and  pierced 
with  assagai  strokes.  The  Empress  bore  up  w^ell 
during  this  narration  until  Ullmann,  the  Prince's 
former  valet,  recognizing  the  garments  which  he  had 
helped  the  Prince  to  put  on  on  the  morning  of  June 
1st,  seized  them  and  began  kissing  the  holes  made  by 
the  weapons.  This  touching  act  so  affected  the  Em- 
press that  she  could  control  herself  no  longer  and 
hastily  left  the  room,  bathed  in  tears. 

"When  the  council  of  war  condemned  Lieutenant 
Carey  to  death,"  the  Empress  once  wrote  me,  "I 
asked  that  he  be  pardoned.  He  was  thus  able  to  ob- 
tain the  grade  of  captain  and  retire  on  a  pension  at 
the  age  limit.  But  I  am  told  that  he  was  always  more 
or  less  shunned  by  the  other  officers,  who  ever  held 
him  to  have  shown  cowardice  on  that  fatal  occasion. 
He  died  at  an  early  age,  I  am  told.    'Was  it  on  ac- 

166 


DEATH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

count  of  remorse  or  disappointment?'  asked  one  of 
my  friends  at  the  time." 

AVhen  the  death  of  the  Prince  Imperial  was 
known,  countless  telegrams  were  received  at  Cam- 
den Place  from  France  and  all  parts  of  Europe. 
The  sovereigns  of  Europe  did  not  forget  the  Em- 
press in  her  sorrow.  She  saw  no  one  and  was  to  be 
called  only  when  the  coffin  had  been  placed  in  the 
main  hall.  A  body  of  leading  Bonapartists,  with 
Prince  Murat  at  their  head,  met  in  the  evening  on 
board  the  Admiralty  yacht  Enchantress,  to  await  the 
arrival  of  the  Orontes,  due  at  daybreak.  At  half 
past  six  the  steamer  was  sighted  and  by  eight  o'clock 
the  body  was  transferred  to  the  EncJiantress.  Can- 
non boomed  and  everybody  on  both  ships  was  weep- 
ing. It  was  an  imposing  and  very  sad  spectacle. 
When  the  Enchantress  reached  Woolwich,  sailors 
carried  the  body  to  the  foot  of  the  altar.  The  Prince 
of  Wales  and  a  number  of  distinguished  Frenchmen 
were  there.  The  body  was  identified  by  tlie  Ameri- 
can dentist,  Dr.  Evans,  who  had  filled  certain  of 
the  Prince's  teeth. 

Chislehurst  was  plunged  into  the  deepest  grief. 
The  large  entrance-hall  had  been  transformed  into 
a  mortuary  chapel.  The  ceiling  was  covered  with 
French  flags.  The  body  was  watched  through  the 
night  by  the  former  officers  of  the  household  and  the 
friends  of  the  Prince,  of  whom,  perhaps,  I  may  bo 
permitted  to  say,  I  was  one.  I  noticed  that  the 
Empress  remained  there  in  prayer  the  greater  part 
of  the  night.  At  Saint  Mary's  Church,  Chislehurst, 
the  dais  was  formed  of  the  pall  which  had  been  used 
for  Napoleon  Ill's  funeral.  On  the  soutli  side  of  the 
choir,  opposite  the  chapel  where  is  the  granite  sarco- 

167 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

phagTis  given  by  Queen  Victoria  as  the  temporary' 
tomb  of  the  Emperor,  a  similar  tomb  had  been  ar- 
ranged for  the  body  of  the  Prince.  Among  those  at 
the  ceremony  were  the  Queen  and  several  other 
members  of  the  Royal  family,  and  a  large  number  of 
distinguished  Bonapartists  and  members  of  the  Bon- 
aparte family.  The  Woolwich  cadets  were  drawn  up 
in  a  hollow  square  in  front  of  Camden  House,  and 
before  the  principal  door  stood  a  magnificently  dec- 
orated gun-carriage  on  which  was  placed  the  coffin. 
The  pall  bearers  were  the  English  princes,  the 
Prince  of  Sweden  and  some  notabilities  of  the 
Second  Empire.  The  spirit  which  prevailed  in 
France  at  this  time  was  shown  by  the  act  of  Gen- 
erals Fleury,  Castelnau  and  Pajol,  who  retired  from 
the  army  sooner  than  was  necessary  in  order  to  be 
free  to  attend  the  funeral.  A  conspicuous  object  in 
the  procession  was  the  Prince's  war-horse.  Stag,  led 
by  Gamble,  the  Emperor's  old  stableman.  Ten  thou- 
sand Frenchmen  were  present  at  Chislehurst  that 
day  and  probably  two  hundred  thousand  English- 
men. The  emotion  was  veiy  deep  and  later,  all  the 
details  were  given  to  the  prostrated  Empress.  Queen 
Victoria  made  a  great  exception  to  her  general  cus- 
tom and  was  present  at  the  ceremony,  after  which 
she  expressed  the  desire  to  be  received  by  the  Em- 
press. The  request  was  granted.  She  found  the 
weeping  mother  in  a  darkened  room.  The  Empress 
tried  to  rise  when  the  Queen  entered,  but  was  too 
weak  to  do  so  and  fell  back  in  her  chair.  Thereupon 
the  Queen  slowly  advanced,  folded  her  arms  about 
the  Empress,  and  both  wept  profusely.  Neither 
spoke  a  word.  Princess  Mathilde  was  the  only  other 
person  admitted  to   the  Empress's  presence  that 

168 


DEATH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

day.  The  next  morning  there  was  a  solemn  service 
in  the  Chislehurst  church,  when  Cardinal  Manning 
pronounced  in  English  a  very  fine  funeral  oration. 
But  the  coffins  of  father  and  son  no  longer  rest 
there,  for  the  Empress,  later,  had  built  at  Farn- 
borough  a  chapel  in  whose  cr^^^t  the  bodies  were 
finally  placed. 

M.  Franceschini  Pietri,  who  can  speak  with  such 
authority  on  the  subject  which  he  treats  below,  con- 
tributes the  following  paragraphs  to  this  chapter : 

'*The  Prince  Imperial  being  dead,  it  is  easy  to 
understand  that  the  Empress  did  not  take  much 
interest  in  the  dilTerences  of  opinion  which  im- 
mediately began  to  show  themselves  in  the  opposing 
Bonapartist  camps.  A  clause  in  the  Prince's  will 
read  as  follows:  'So  long  as  there  are  Bonapartes, 
the  Imperial  cause  will  have  a  representative.  The 
duties  which  our  family  owes  to  the  country  will  not 
end  with  my  death.  The  task  of  continuing  the  work 
of  Napoleon  I  and  Napoleon  III  falls  to  the  eldest 
son  of  Prince  Napoleon,  and  I  trust  that  ray  mother, 
aiding  him  with  all  her  strength,  will  thus  give  to 
those  of  us  who  will  not  be  on  earth,  a  last  and  sub- 
lime proof  of  her  affection.'  This  clause  of  the  will 
was  very  embarrassing  to  the  Empress.  She  did  not 
wish  to  show  a  decided  preference  for  either  the  son 
or  the  father.  But  meetings  of  the  leading  deputies 
of  tlie  Bonapartist  party,  in  spite  of  differences  of 
opinion,  finally  decided  that  Prince  Napoleon  should 
be  regarded  as  their  chief.  The  Empress  rarely  took 
the  same  view  of  i)ublic  questions  as  did  Prince 
Napoleon  and  she  naturally  feared  that  difficulties 
and  eml)arrassments  would  arise  from  this  new  ar- 
rangement.  It  was  soon  seen  that  she  was  right,  an- 

169 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

other  excellent  example  of  the  wonderful  perspicac- 
ity of  this  remarkable  woman.  xVfter  his  arrest  in 
the  beginning  of  1883  for  his  public  manifesto 
against  the  republic,  the  Empress  drew  nearer  to  the 
Prince,  but  finally  separated  from  him  and  trans- 
ferred her  preferences  to  Prince  Victor,  whom  she 
aided  in  his  exile  by  financial  support.  But  her 
domestic  sorrow  more  and  more  separated  the  Em- 
press from  all  participation  in  the  political  affairs 
of  the  Bonapartist  party  and  as  the  years  rolled  on 
she  took  less  and  less  interest  in  politics,  though 
her  keen  intellect  and  penetrating  mind  enabled  her 
to  see  more  clearly  into  public  matters  than  many 
of  the  politicians  of  the  day." 

The  Empress  left  Chislehurst  on  March  25,  1860, 
on  her  long  journey  to  Zululand.  Among  those  who 
accompanied  her  were  Sir  Evelyn  Wood,  aide-de- 
camp of  the  Queen,  and  Lady  "Wood,  thq  Marquis  of 
Bassano,  Lieutenant  Slade,  one  of  her  son's  com- 
panions at  Woolwich,  who  acted  a  noble  part  at 
Ulundi,  Dr.  Scott,  who  was  present  when  the  body 
was  recognised  and  embalmed,  and  Ullmann,  the 
Prince 's  faithful  valet.  At  the  Waterloo  station  the 
Empress  found  General  Clarke,  who  presented  to 
her  a  magnificent  bouquet  of  violets  from  the  Prince 
of  Wales,  which  delicate  attention  was  so  character- 
istic of  this  future  King  of  England.  There,  too, 
was  Prince  Charles  Bonaparte,  just  arrived  from 
Eome,  and  who  got  into  the  railway  carriage  and  ac- 
companied the  Empress  to  Southampton.  The  same 
afternoon,  she  sailed  in  the  excellent  steamer,  the 
German,  where  everything  was  arranged  most  com- 

170 


DEATH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

fortably,  and  where  many  kind  attentions  were  paid. 
Throughout  the  voyage,  the  Empress  sat  at  the  cap- 
tain's table,  in  the  center  of  the  neat  dining-room 
where  were  some  fifty  other  first-class  passengers. 
The  voyage  was  uneventful,  and  the  quiet  ocean  and 
the  still  skies,  especially  at  night,  when  Eugenie 
often  walked  the  decks  till  late,  had  a  calming  effect 
on  her,  which  prepared  her  for  the  painful 
experiences  which  were  to  come. 

On  April  25th  the  steamer  touched  at  Port  Eliza- 
beth. After  having  been  kindly  received  by  Sir 
Bartle  Frere  and  offered  apartments  at  the  Govern- 
ment House,  Cape  Town,  the  Empress  pushed  on  to 
Pietermaritzburg,  Natal,  where  she  disembarked. 
Before  arriving,  Eugenie  learned  that  the  expe- 
dition which  had  been  sent  into  Zululand  to  set  up  a 
cross  on  the  spot  where  the  Prince  fell,  had  returned 
safe  and  sound  to  the  coast.  The  Empress  finally 
leit  the  ship  at  Durban,  where  Sir  Garnet  Wolseley 
came  to  meet  her.  It  was  night  and  there  was  a  splen- 
did moon,  and  various  sad  thoughts  were  awakened 
in  her  when  she  set  foot  on  African  soil  for  the  first 
time,  perhaps  on  the  very  spot  where  the  Prince  Im- 
perial had  stepped  but  a  few  months  before,  full  of 
young  life  and  ambition.  The  Empress  was  the  guest 
of  Captain  Baynton,  who  kept  in  a  tent  outside  the 
gardens  a  visitors'  register,  for  she  led  a  re- 
tired life  and  saw  nobody.  From  Durban  they  went 
to  Maritzburg,  going  as  far  as  Botha  Hill  by  the 
unfinished  railway,  using  a  carriage  the  rest  of  the 
way.  Having  entirely  crossed  the  colony  of  Natal, 
in  the  middle  of  May,  they  reached  Utrecht,  the 
first  town  on  the  frontiers  of  the  Transvaal  and 
Zululand.    In  this   little  place,  filled  with  former 

171 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

Dutch  Boers,  the  English  military  staff,  to  which 
the  Prince  Imperial  belonged,  camped  for  two 
weeks,  so  that  the  Empress  found  here  more  than 
one  little  souvenir  of  him.  An  important  ambu- 
lance station  had  been  set  up  in  the  native  laager, 
and  from  the  men  who  were  wounded  in  the  tirst 
part  of  the  campaign,  she  learned  that  the  Prince 
had  spent  many  hours  in  this  temporary  hospital 
visiting  the  sick  and  saying  kind  words  to  them. 
Eugenie  remained  several  days  in  this  spot  where 
her  unfortunate  son  displayed  for  the  last  time  his 
customary  tenderness  for  human  suffering.  The 
last  drive  ended  at  four  in  the  afternoon  on  June 
1st,  at  the  donga  in  whose  immediate  vicinity  the 
son  met  his  death,  in  the  Ityotyosi  valley.  Sir 
Evelyn  Wood  here  gave  the  Empress  all  the  de- 
tailed information  which  he  possessed  about  the 
dreadful  tragedy.  She  found  there  the  cross  so 
kindly  sent  by  order  of  the  Queen  and  entrusted  to 
the  care  of  the  Zulu  chief  whose  men  had  kilh'd 
the  Prince.  A  solemn  service  w^as  hold  on  the  very 
spot  w^here  he  fell  so  bravely.  All  remained  there 
till  night-fall.  Eugenie  noticed  that  wreaths  of  im- 
mortelles had  been  laid  at  the  base  of  the  cross  by 
the  Queen  and  Prince  of  Wales.  She  herself  placed 
others  on  the  graves  of  the  two  soldiers  who  had 
fallen  at  the  same  time  as  the  Prince.  On  my 
return  to  Durban,  the  Empress  \dsited  the  Dcunihr, 
which  was  in  port,  the  ship  on  which  the  Prince 
had  sailed  from  Southampton  to  Natal,  and  the 
good  Captain  Draper  gave  her  many  interesting- 
details  of  that  last  voyage  of  her  son.  Nothing 
eventful  occurred  during  the  return  voyage  to  Eng- 

172 


DEATH  OF  THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 

land,  which  ended  this  extremely  sad  but,  at  the 
same  time,  comforting  journey. 

Shortly  after  the  return  from  Zululand,  the  Em- 
press went  one  day  to  Netley  hospital,  near 
Southampton,  where  were  several  patients  who  had 
seen  her  poor  son  during  that  fatal  campaign.  They 
spoke  at  much  length,  and  from  them  she  learned 
many  little  details  and  impressions,  which  have 
been  utilized  in  trying  to  give  some  account  of  this 
unhappy  chapter  in  her  life.  Many  words  in  praise 
of  the  Prince  fell  in  simple  language  from  these 
plain  men.  What  they  said  was  all  the  more  true  on 
this  account,  and  was  very  dear  to  the  Empress. 


CHAPTEE  VIII 

IMPERIAL   AND   ROYAL  VISITS 

All  monarchs  make  public  journeys  through 
their  dominions,  generally  for  political  reasons  of 
some  kind.  This  was  particularly  the  case  during 
the  Second  Empire.  There  was  a  magic  in  the 
name  of  Napoleon,  especially  among  the  French 
peasantry,  which  the  Emperor  was  not  slow  to  use 
in  his  efforts  to  consolidate  the  new  government. 
He  also  found  a  real  pleasure  in  close  association 
with  the  common  people,  whose  condition  he  was 
always  eager  to  ameliorate.  It  may  be  interesting, 
therefore,  to  enter  with  some  detail  into  the  way  in 
which  these  grand  official  journeys  were  organized. 
These  details  are  here  given  in  connection  with  a 
visit  which  was  paid  in  1860  to  the  recently  annexed 
departments  of  Savoy  and  Nice,  when  the  Em- 
peror also  crossed  over  to  Corsica  and  even  pushed 
rapidly  through  Algeria.  The  whole  journey  occu- 
pied five  weeks.  It  was  executed  with  great  pomp 
under  somewhat  complicated  conditions,  and  was 
one  of  the  longest  undertaken  during  the  Second 
Empire. 

One  of  the  most  important  things  in  connec- 
tion with  these  trips  was  having  the  court  carriages, 
or  others  equally  fine,  ready  at  every  point  where 
a  stop  was  made  for  any  official  visits.  There  were 
gala  coaches   and  landaus.  Imperial  post-chaises, 

174 


IMPERIAL  AND  EOYAL  VISITS 

and  riding  horses  for  reviews,  all  of  which  had  to 
be  centered  in  Algeria  in  such  a  way  as  to  be  dis- 
tributed properly  through  the  country  so  as  to  be 
ready  for  the  carrying  out  of  every  item  of  the  long 
and  complicated  program.  This  particular  jour- 
ney went  off  admirably  in  every  respect,  especially 
as  regards  the  means  of  locomotion.  General 
Fleury,  the  future  grand  equerry,  managed  every 
detail  of  the  expedition  and  did  it  in  a  way  that  won 
the  admiration  and  thanks  of  all.  I  should  add 
that  the  general  outlines  were  the  work  of  the  Em- 
peror himself,  who  entered  into  these  great  "official 
expeditions,"  as  he  called  them,  with  a  zest  that 
was  peculiarly  his  own.  The  Emperor  always  had 
a  great  liking  for  geography,  conning  maps  de- 
lighted him  more  than  reading  the  most  fascinating 
novels.  Armed  with  a  large  sheet  of  paper,  a  lead 
pencil  and  a  magnifying  glass,  he  would  spend 
hours  at  a  time  over  big  atlases,  examining  rivers 
and  roads,  making  little  diagrams,  noting  distances 
and  hours  and  going  into  the  smallest  details  with 
General  Fleury,  who  would  join  him  in  the  midst  of 
his  "time-table  labors"  as  he  used  to  say,  laughing- 
ly. The  General  had  also  his  own  notes  and  itinera- 
ries all  ready.  Then  the  two  series  were  molded 
into  one,  on  which  both  worked  later  to  render  it  as 
perfect  as  possible. 

But  these  more  purely  geographical  matters  were 
not  the  only  elements  of  one  of  the  journeys.  Each 
member  of  the  cabinet  sent  in  a  list  of  suggestions 
and  a  series  of  notes  on  the  requests  made  in  the 
different  departments  through  which  the  Emperor 
was  to  pass.  lie  was  informed  of  the  work  for  the 
State  going  on  in  this  or  that  place,  of  the  public 

175 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

improvements  desired  and  of  any  other  fact  that 
could  be  of  interest  to  him.  With  all  this  in  hand, 
General  Fleury  would  then  draw  up  a  complete  plan 
of  the  expedition.  AVhen  this  was  finally  approved 
in  all  its  details  by  the  Emperor,  General  Fleury 
would  communicate  with  the  prefects,  arranging 
with  them  the  length  of  the  sojourns  in  the  different 
towns,  the  official  visits  to  be  made,  the  banquets  to 
be  attended,  the  guests  to  be  invited  to  these  ban- 
quets, and  so  on. 

During  these  journeys.  General  Fleuiy  was 
charged  with  the  supervision  of  the  receptions  of 
the  authorities,  official  presentations,  and  the  mat- 
ter of  subsistence,  which  three  divisions  of  the 
work  were,  generally,  the  care  of  three  separate 
court  functionaries.  But  the  concentration  of  these 
three  under  one  head  gave  the  unity  and  perfection 
of  detail  which  was  always  so  much  admired  on 
the  occasion  of  the  various  journeys  and  voyages. 
Furthermore,  the  General  drew  up  a  brief  account 
of  everything  of  historical,  economical  or  industrial 
Interest  in  each  region  or  place  visited. 

All  this  information  of  every  sort  was  printed 
and  distributed  among  the  persons  composing  the 
service  of  honor,  so  that  every  one  was  acquainted 
w^ith  the  smallest  details  of  the  journey.  Besides 
these  "booklet-program,"  which  have  now  be- 
come very  scarce,  the  General  prepared  a  private 
note-book  for  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress,  which 
contained  confidential  notes  concerning  the  military 
and  civil  authorities  of  the  places  visited,  and  sim- 
ilar notes  concerning  the  well-knowTi  private  per- 
sons likely  to  be  presented  at  different  points  dur- 
ing the  tour.   These  note-books  were  in  manuscript 

176 


IMPERIAL  AND  ROYAL  VISITS 

and  were  the  work  of  Captain  de  Verdiere,  the  Gen- 
eral's devoted  aide  de  camp,  who  was  an  invaluable 
helper  in  everything  pertaining  to  these  official 
tours.  It  is  now  very  difficult  to  find  any  of  these 
note-books,  which  were  drawn  up  with  the  greatest 
care  and  neatness.  I  have  one  before  me  as  I  write 
these  lines,  and  I  can  only  admire  once  more  the 
evidences  of  remarkable  tact  and  assiduity  in  their 
preparation.  Some  of  the  suggestions  and  some  of 
the  statements  might  provoke  a  smile  if  seen  by 
others  than  those  for  whom  they  were  intended,  and 
if  read  now  at  such  a  long  distance  from  the 
moment  that  called  them  forth.  But  it  should  be 
remembered  that  they  were  meant  to  be  a  sort  of 
vade  mecum,  thanks  to  whoso  valuable  little  hints 
and  bits  of  information  the  Emperor  and  Empress 
were  able  to  say  the  right  word  in  the  right  place 
and  to  the  right  person.  In  some  instances,  the 
exact  sentence  which  should  be  used  was  given. 
They  were  told  tlie  maiden  name  of  the  wife  of  this 
or  that  functionary.  They  were  informed  as  to  the 
number  of  children  in  a  family.  There  was  a  hint 
concerning  the  political  ambition  of  this  one  and 
of  the  political  tendencies  of  that  one.  This  one 
wished  to  come  over  to  the  Emperor  without  offend- 
ing his  friends.  This  other  one  was  desirous  of  be- 
coming a  member  of  the  Legion  of  llonoi-,  without 
liaving  to  appear  to  desire  it.  Anotlier  person 
hoped  for  some  reward  because  of  his  (h'votion  to 
the  agricultui'al  interests  of  tlie  region  through 
which  they  were  passing,  while  still  another  trusted 
he  was  to  receive  governmental  support  at  some 
approaching  election.     By  the  aid   of  these  notes, 

177 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

how  many  kindly  and  appropriate  remarks  were 
made! 

In  many  other  ways,  General  Fleury  displayed 
his  remarkable  efficiency  in  regulating  and  carrying 
out  these  superb  official  tours  of  the  Second  Empire. 
Let  me  give  one  instance  of  this  of  quite  another 
kind  from  those  just  spoken  of.  It  happened  during 
a  visit  to  Saint  Malo  in  1858.  A  wooden  building 
had  been  thrown  up  for  the  ball  offered  by  the 
municipality  in  our  honor.  During  the  dancing, 
the  General  heard  a  crack  or  two  in  the  frail  struc- 
ture and  soon  saw  that  its  strength  w^as  over-taxed. 
But  no  sudden  alarm  was  to  be  given  or  a  panic 
might  ensue.  So,  coming  to  the  Empress,  he  said 
very  quietly  in  her  ear:  "Madame,  the  ball-room 
floor  is  threatening  to  give  way.  I  beg  Your 
Majesty  to  withdraw  slowly  and  I  will  empty  the 
room."  So  taking  the  Emperor  by  the  arm,  they 
walked  quietly  towards  the  door,  bowing  to  the 
right  and  left  as  they  advanced.  Eugenie,  of  course, 
felt  not  a  little  nervous,  but  the  General  said  after- 
wards that  she  did  not  show  it.  The  Emperor  did 
not  know  exactly  why  his  consort  was  leading  him 
away,  and  the  rest  of  the  party  expressed  openly 
their  regret  at  this  early  departure.  Most  of  the 
company  followed  to  the  exit,  and  when  they  wished 
to  return  to  the  dancing  they  found  the  doors 
closed,  and  then  learned  the  grave  danger  which 
they  had  escaped. 

We  have  pleasanter  recollections  of  the  Empress' 
visit  to  Queen  Isabella,  who  was  holding  her  court 
at  Saint  Sebastian  in  the  summer  of  1857.  Eugenie 
was  at  Biarritz.  She  embarked  with  her  sister,  the 
Duchesse  d'Albe,  on  the  steam-boat  Coligny.    They 

178 


IMPERIAL  AND  ROYAL  VISITS 

reached  the  picturesque  old  Spanish  town  just  ai5 
the  sun  was  setting.  It  was  a  beautiful  sight.  Queen 
Isabella  w^as  in  her  best  mood.  She  always  took  a 
special  interest  in  the  Empress  on  account  of  her 
Spanish  origin,  and  they  talked  long  and  pleasantly 
of  common  friends  of  Madrid.  In  the  evening  the 
town  was  illuminated.  There  were  processions  and 
dancing  and  various  popular  entertainments.  The 
day  closed  with  a  banquet  and  dancing  on  the  deck 
of  the  Coligny  as  they  sailed  across  the  calm  sea 
from  Saint  Sebastian  to  Biarritz. 

On  some  of  these  official  tours  rather  amusing 
incidents  occurred.  I  was  told  one  that  happened,  I 
cannot  now  recollect  just  where.  The  Emperor  had 
consented  that  the  train  should  stop  at  some  little 
station,  which  stop  was  not  down  on  the  pro- 
gram. The  Empress  was  not  informed  of  this 
change  in  the  plan  and  so  w^as  not  properly  attired 
to  present  herself  to  the  shouting  crowd.  In  the 
meanwhile,  the  Emperor  was  doing  his  best  to  sat- 
isfy their  curiosity,  shaking  hands  with  the  nearest 
through  the  car  window,  and  wondering  why  she 
did  not  appear,  especially  as  she  was  being  called 
for  with  many  a  'M^ong  live  the  Empress!"  which 
shout  reached  her  in  her  car,  where  she  was  sitting 
quietly  hidden  behind  the  curtain.  Finally,  one  of 
the  young  girls,  all  dressed  in  white,  who  had  come 
down  to  the  station  especially  to  salute  the  Em- 
press, was  lifted  by  her  mother  up  into  my  car, 
and  bravely  coming  towards  her  was  led  up  to  her  by 
General  Fleury.  Tlion,  in  a  timid  but  clear  voice, 
she  exclaimed:  "Excuse  me,  Madame,  my  name  is 
Eliacin!"  Eugenie  could  not  help  laughing  at  the 
whole  amusing  scene,  kissed  the  child,  accepted  the 

179 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

bouquet  wliich  she  offered,  took  off  her  traveling 
cloak  and  joined  the  Emperor  at  the  window,  much 
to  the  delight  of  the  cheering  people.  The  Empress 
long  remembered  this  incident,  and  on  similar  jour- 
neys, when  engaged  in  bowing  to  firemen  and  kiss- 
ing girls  in  white,  she  used  sometimes  to  turn  to  her 
faithful  friend  Fleurj^  and  say  to  him  in  an  under- 
tone: "My  name  is  Eliacin." 

But  there  was  a  class  of  these  tours  which  was 
of  a  sad  character.  I  refer  to  those  made  at  a 
moment  of  some  public  calamity.  Let  me  give  an 
example  of  a  tour  of  this  sort.  In  the  spring  of 
1856,  there  occurred  a  most  distressing  flood  in  the 
valley  of  the  Rhone.  The  poor  working-men's 
houses  in  the  suburbs  of  Lyons  were  swamped.  The 
same  thing  was  time  at  Aix.  The  Gresivaudan  and 
the  whole  Camargue  country  were  submerged. 
Hundreds  of  houses,  undermined  by  the  waters,  fell 
in.  Ruin  was  everywhere  and  many  thousands  of 
lives  were  in  danger.  The  wild  cry  of  despair 
reached  Saint  Cloud  and  touched  the  good  Emper- 
or's tender  heart,  tender  especially  to  all  the  suf- 
ferings of  the  lowly.  He  immediately  decided  to 
hasten  to  the  scene  of  all  this  distress ;  so,  accom- 
panied only  by  his  aide-de-camp.  General  Niel,  he 
visited  the  flooded  parts  of  Lyons,  either  on  horse- 
back or  in  boat,  and  gave  out  handful s  of  gold.  If 
I  am  not  mistaken,  he  distributed  in  this  way  half  a 
million  of  francs.  Leaving  Lyons  wilii  tears  in  his 
eyes,  those  present  told  me,  the  Emperor  hurried 
through  the  whole  valley  carrying  cheer  and  aid 
everywliere.  At  Valence,  the  Empi^ro]-  reached  the 
mayor's  house  on  a  porter's  back.  At  Tarascon  and 
Aries,  and  all  along  the  river's  course  at  Orange 

180 


IMPEEIAL  AND  ROYAL  VISITS 

and  Avignou,  where  the  raging  waters  often 
reached  the  roofs  of  farm  and  dwelling  houses,  and 
where  buildings  were  constantly  falling  and  spread- 
ing ruin  and  death  on  every  side,  on  several  oc- 
casions the  Emperor  risked  his  life  "in  this  land 
campaign  against  Neptune,"  as  he  said  on  his  re- 
turn to  Saint  Cloud,  all  worn  out  and  looking  as 
though  he  had  gone  through  a  month's  sickness.  He 
got  back  on  June  -ith,  to  learn  that  a  similar  catas- 
trophe had  happened  in  the  west,  where  the  Loire 
was  rising  rapidly  and  threatening  ximboise,  wliile 
owing  to  the  overflowing  of  the  banks  of  the  Clier, 
Tours,  Blois  and  Orleans  were  also  in  danger  of 
being  inundated.  Scarcely  waiting  to  take  breath, 
the  Emperor  started  out  again  on  another  journey 
of  mercy,  and  carried  cheer  and  relief  to  the  tried 
populations  who  cheered  him  on  every  side.  How  he 
stood  these  trials,  physicially,  was  always  a  mys- 
tery. 

The  Emperor's  policy  to  be  on  good  terms  with 
England  was  brought  out  strongly  in  the  visit  which 
was  paid  to  London  in  April,  1855,  and  especially  in 
the  return  visit  of  (^ueen  Victoria  and  the  Prince 
(vonsort,  four  months  later  to  Paris.  A  somewhat 
detailed  account  of  this  last  visit  is  given  below  as 
it  was  planned  in  many  particulars  by  the  Emperor 
and  the  Empress  and  did  much  to  lead  later  to  im- 
l)ortant  political  moves  (m  the  European  checker- 
board. 

In  spite  of  the  Crimean  war,  the  pre])arations  for 
the  International  Exhibition  of  1855  had  gone  on 
steadily  and  in  due  time  it  was  opened  with  much 
pomp  and  ceremony.    People  iiished  from  all  parts 

181 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

of  Europe  to  the  new  Palace  of  Industry  which  had 
been  erected  in  the  center  of  the  Champs  Elysees, 
and  which  was  for  many  the  chief  attraction  in  that 
part  of  the  city.  This  famous  building,  which  was 
intimately  associated  wath  so  many  grand  inter- 
national events,  became  rather  shabby  towards  the 
end,  but  disappeared  only  a  few  years  ago,  after 
also  sheltering  for  nearly  half  a  century  home  exhi- 
bitions of  all  kinds,  painting  and  sculpture  salons, 
horse-shows,  and  so  on.  Little  did  those  who  wan- 
dered round  the  vast  edifice  on  such  festive  oc- 
casions dream  that  its  last  use  was  to  be  as  a 
momentary  sanctuary  for  the  charred  and  dis- 
figured remains  of  the  victims  of  the  terrible  fire 
of  the  Bazaar  of  Charity  on  May  4,  1897,  in  w^hich 
disaster  perished  some  friends  very  dear  to  the  sur- 
vivors of  the  Second  Empire. 

The  Emperor  had  received  from  Queen  Victoria 
the  promise  that  she  w^ould  pay  him  a  visit  during 
the  exhibition.  Nothing  having  occurred  to  prevent 
it,  Her  Majesty  announced  her  arrival  at  Boulogne 
for  August,  1855.  Napoleon  III  went  down  to  Bou- 
logne  to  meet  his  royal  guest,  determined,  as  usual, 
to  do  all  in  his  power  to  make  her  sojourn  on 
French  soil  as  memorable  an  occasion  as  possible. 
As  soon  as  the  yacht,  Victoria  and  Albert,  reached 
the  harbour,  the  impatient  Emperor  boarded  the 
vessel.  As  at  Windsor,  the  Queen  saluted  her 
''good  brother"  on  both  cheeks,  and  while  the  cus- 
tomary good  wishes  and  greetings  were  being  ex- 
changed, the  yacht  reached  the  profusely  decorated 
quay.  The  Queen  landed,  leaning  on  the  arm  of  her 
imperial  host,  who  escorted  her  to  the  carriage,  ac- 
companied by  Prince  Albert  and  her  two  children, 

182 


IMPERIAL  AND  EOYAL  VISITS 

the  Prince  of  Wales  and  Princess  Victoria.  The 
Emperor  himself  acted  as  equerry,  riding  on  the 
right  of  the  carriage,  while  on  the  left  galloped 
Marshal  BaragTiay  d'Hilliers.  A  numerous  and 
brilliant  staff  of  officers  followed,  and  the  carriages 
of  the  suite,  surrounded  by  a  sparkling  escort  of 
the  Cent  Gardes,  were  particularly  showy.  The 
whole  procession  was  a  very  striking  one,  and  a 
certain  one  of  the  survivors  of  the  Grand  Army,  see- 
ing the  grand-daughter  of  George  III  pass  so  tri- 
umphantly through  the  to^\^l,  could  not  resist  the 
remark :  '^^  Strange  it  is  that  we  should  have  fought 
like  dogs  to  come  at  last  to  this !  If  the  old  one 
came  back  what  a  rage  he  would  be  in  to  see  it." 
This  rather  ill-timed  comment  attracted  no  atten- 
tion, however,  for  the  visit  of  the  Queen  of  Eng- 
land, whose  armies  in  the  Crimea  were  allied  to 
those  of  France,  was  a  cause  of  rejoicing  to  all — • 
to  the  people  in  the  streets  as  well  as  to  court 
circles. 

It  was  said  at  the  time  that  more  than  two  hun- 
dred thousand  people  were  massed  along  the  boule- 
vards and  Champs  Elysees  at  two  o'clock  of  the 
afternoon  of  August  18th,  to  witness  the  triumphal 
entrance  into  Paris  of  the  British  sovereign,  ac- 
companied by  all  the  most  notable  persons  of 
the  Second  Emjjire.  The  windows  were  filled  with 
clusters  of  heads,  stands  had  been  erected  on  every 
available  spot,  groups  of  workmen,  market  women 
in  their  best  attii'o,  vendors  of  coco,  hawkers 
screaming  and  gesticulating,  the  inhabitants  of 
various  villages  led  by  their  mayors,  their  curates 
and  their  firemen,  strangers  from  all  X)arts  of  the 
world,    formed    a    restless    and    impatient    crowd, 

183 


MEMOIRS   OF  THE    EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

swaying  beneath  triumphal  arches,  Venetian  masts, 
flags  and  banners,  hangings  and  transparent 
scrolls,  all  bearing  words  of  welcome.  Those  who 
saw  that  sight  can  never  forget  it,  and  were  proud 
of  the  great  city  and  happy  at  the  grand  reception 
which  I  am  sure  awaited  Victoria  and  the  Em- 
peror, who  would  be  so  delighted  at  the  assured 
popular  as  well  as  official  success. 

But  it  was  almost  dark  when  the  cannon  at  hist 
announced  the  arrival  of  the  Queen  at  the  Stras- 
bourg station.  The  people  were  much  disappointed 
by  the  delay.  When  the  imperial  train  stopped, 
General  de  Loewenstein  stepped  fonvard  and 
offered  a  bouquet  to  the  Queen  in  the  name  of  the 
battalion  of  the  National  Guard,  then  on  duty  at  the 
station.  The  military  band  played  "God  Save  the 
Queen"  as  Victoria  mounted  into  the  open  car- 
riage drawn  by  four  horses  with  postilions.  The 
Emperor  put  the  young  Princess  by  her  mother, 
while  he  himself  took  the  opposite  seat  alongside  of 
Prince  Albert.  The  Prince  of  Wales  was  in  the 
second  carriage  with  Prince  Napoleon,  cousin  of  the 
Emperor.  Marshal  Magnan,  Military  Governor  of 
Paris,  rode  on  the  right  of  the  royal  carriage,  while 
on  the  left  was  General  de  Loewenstein,  conmiand- 
iug  the  National  Guard.  Long  afterwards,  when 
King  of  England,  Edward  one  day  remarked  that 
this  visit  had  more  to  do  than  anything  else  in 
warmly  attaching  him  to  France  and  especially  to 
the  French  capital,  which  he  always  loved  so  dearly. 
At  this  time,  the  future  king  was  a  winning  boy  of 
fourteen. 

Troops  bordered  the  streets  and  road  all  the  way 
from  the  Paris  station  to  Saint  Cloud.    The  route 

184 


IMPERIAL  AND  ROYAL  VISITS 

lay  along  the  Boulevard  de  Strasbourg,  the  Grands 
Boulevards,  the  Champs  Elysees,  the  Bois  de  Bou- 
logne, the  village  of  Boulogne,  and  then  over  the 
Seine  bridge  to  the  castle.  Brilliant  illuminations 
had  been  prepared  and  the  procession  passed 
through  streets  ablaze  with  thousands  of  lights, 
while  the  Bois  ''sparkled,"  as  the  Emperor  said, 
"like  the  Gardens  of  Armida,"  and  was  really 
fairylike  in  its  unwonted  splendor.  At  length, 
through  the  shining  night  appeared  the  silhouette 
of  Saint  Cloud.  The  effect  of  this  drive  was  marked 
on  the  whole  royal  and  imperial  party.  The  Queen 
and  Prince  Consort  several  times  turned  to  the 
Emperor  to  praise  the  beauty  on  every  side  and  to 
express  their  genuine  emotions. 

The  Imperial  Guard  were  massed  in  the  avenues, 
the  courts  and  terraces  of  Saint  Cloud.  Near  the 
large  gateway,  in  the  midst  of  the  soldiers,  the 
children  of  the  schools  and  orphanages  were  sta- 
tioned, the  little  boys  on  one  side,  the  little  girls, 
under  the  eyes  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  on  the 
other.  This  gathering  especially  delighted  the 
Queen,  who  much  enjoyed  the  hearty  cheers  of  the 
children  and  plainly  manifested  her  satisfaction. 
Leaning  over  to  the  Prince  Consort,  she  said : 
"Where  but  in  artistic  France  would  one  have 
thought  of  thus  uniting  in  the  same  assemblage  the 
sturdy  soldier  and  the  gentle  chikP'  I  am  sure  this 
idea  emanated  from  the  Empress."  And  the  Em- 
peror, much  pleased,  nodded  his  confirmation. 

Accompanied  by  l^rincess  Mathilde  and  all  the 
ladies  of  the  household,  the  Empress  was  awaiting 
the  Queen  at  the  foot  of  the  grand  staii-case;  and 
after  the  first  greetings   had  been  exchanged,  the 

185 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

Queen,  accompanied  by  the  Emperor,  Empress, 
Prince  Albert,  the  young  Prince  and  Princess, 
mounted  the  staircase  between  two  motionless  rows 
of  the  Cent  Gardes.  ''They  remind  me  of  my  Life 
Guards,"  said  the  Queen,  turning  to  the  Emperor. 
All  saw  that  the  royal  English  children  could  not 
take  their  eyes  from  the  tall,  beautifully  uniformed 
soldiers. 

The  Empress  then  conducted  the  Queen  to  the 
apartments  which  had  been  prepared  for  her.  But 
the  royal  guest  had  not  a  moment  to  rest  from  the 
fatigues  of  her  journey.  She  had  barely  time  to 
dress  for  the  grand  dinner  which  awaited  her,  and 
for  which  the  guests  and  hosts  alike  had  a  good 
appetite,  w^hich  had  been  keenly  whetted  by  the  long 
drive. 

The  apartment  occupied  by  the  Queen  during  her 
visit  to  Saint  Cloud  had  been  specially  decorated 
for  the  occasion.  The  two  distinguished  French 
painters,  Louis  Boulanger  and  Faustin  Besson,  had 
just  completed  paintings  over  the  doors  and  win- 
dows; during  the  past  month  the  Emperor  himself 
had  superintended  the  furnishing  of  the  rooms, 
being  desirous  that  the  apartment  should  remind 
the  Queen,  as  closely  as  possible,  of  her  Windsor 
residence.  These  rooms,  on  the  first  floor  of  the 
castle,  were,  moreover,  most  delightfully  situated; 
several  windows  opened  on  to  a  balcony,  and  the 
eye  wandered  over  the  terraces  and  grassy  slopes  of 
the  village  of  Saint  Cloud,  and  beyond,  to  the  green 
wavy  masses  of  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  and  still  fur- 
ther on,  to  Paris,  shining  white  and  faiiylike  in  the 
far  distance;  while  from  the  other  side  of  the  apart- 
ment the  gaze  rested  on  the  lovely  gardens  bright 

186 


IMPEEIAL  AND  ROYAL  VISITS 

with  summer  flowers,  the  sparkling  fountains  and 
cascades,  stately  alleys  and  shady  avenues  reaching 
out  to  the  park  of  Saint  Cloud. 

The  walls  of  the  apartment  were  hung  with  most 
beautiful  tapestries  and  with  Lyons  silk.  Handsome 
furniture  had  been  chosen;  among  other  things,  the 
Louis  XV  bureau  by  Riesener,  the  celebrated  cab- 
inet-maker, which  is  now  at  the  Louvre,  and  several 
pieces  which  had  belonged  to  Marie  Antoinette  and 
which  the  Empress  had  brought  together  for  the  bou- 
doir which  Louis  XVI  had  prepared  for  his  wife 
when  he  purchased  the  castle  from  the  Due  d 'Or- 
leans. Pictures  from  the  Louvre — chiefly  of  the 
Flemish  and  Venetian  schools — were  hung  on  the 
walls.  Among  other  pictures  was  the  Holy  Family 
by  Murillo,  then  recently  purchased  at  the  Marshal 
Soult  sale. 

It  was  about  nine  o'clock  when  the  Court  gath- 
ered in  the  grand  apartments  of  the  castle.  After 
the  presentations,  the  Emperor  and  Empress 
passed  with  their  guests  into  the  Salon  de  Diane 
where  dinner  was  to  be  served.  The  Queen  called 
the  attention  of  the  Prince  Consort  to  the  beautiful 
ceiling  where  Mignard,  the  talented  painter  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  had  devoted  a  half  dozen 
panels  to  the  goddess  who  had  given  her  name  to 
this  splendid  dining-hall. 

The  Queen  wore  a  white,  low-necked  dress  with 
geranium  blossoms  pinned  here  and  there  all  over 
it  and  had  rings  on  all  hor  fingers,  the  most  con- 
spicuous among  these  being  a  blood-red  ruby  of 
enormous  size.  C)n  hor  head,  placed  very  far  back, 
was  a  diamond  aigrette;  her  hair,  parted  in  the 
middle,  was  brought  down  over  the  ears;  her  large, 

187 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

gentle  eyes  were  fine  and  candid;  her  complexion 
good;  and  her  mouth  irregTilar.  Her  Majesty  was 
small  of  stature,  but  well  shaped,  and  looked  ' '  every 
inch  a  queen."  She  smiled  pleasantly  to  all  present 
and  repeatedly  told  the  Emperor  and  Empress  how 
charmed  she  was  with  the  hearty  welcome  she  had 
received  everywhere  and  all  the  attentions  shown 
her  since  her  arrival  on  French  soil. 

The  next  day  the  Queen  was  so  fascinated  by  the 
view  of  the  park  that  she  went  out  at  an  early  hour, 
when  the  Emperor  joined  her,  and  together  they 
had  a  long  walk  under  the  venerable  trees  of  Saint 
Cloud.  The  Emperor  was  struck,  not  only  by  the 
proverbial  ai¥ability  of  Her  Majesty,  but  by  her 
wide  knowledge  of  all  the  political  affairs  of 
Europe,  and  of  the  evidently  active  part  which  she 
took  in  the  foreign  relations  of  the  English  govern- 
ment. When  the  Emperor  joined  Eugenie  after  this 
tete-a-tete  with  Victoria,  he  said:  "The  Queen  is  a 
charming  woman  and  an  astute  statesman,  and  both 
to  an  extreme  degree." 

It  was  Sunday.  But  care  had  been  taken  that  one 
of  the  salons  of  the  palace  should  be  prepared  for 
the  celebration  of  a  Church  of  England  service. 
This  attention  was  fully  appreciated  by  the  Queen. 
'  ^  The  Empress  and  the  Emperor  seem  to  divine  my 
wish,"  she  remarked. 

The  Queen  ha^^ng  expressed  the  desire  to  see 
what  remained  of  the  Castle  of  Neuilly,  where  she 
had  been  so  warmly  welcomed  by  the  Orleans  fam- 
ily in  1843,  was  accordingly  driven  to  the  spot  dur- 
ing the  afternoon.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the 
mansion  was  pillaged  and  burnt  to  the  ground  by 
the  mob  in  1848.  The  Queen  looked  for  a  long  time, 

188 


IMPERIAL  AND  ROYAL  VISITS 

with  melancholy  gaze,  and  in  silence  on  the  once- 
loved  residence  of  Louis  Philippe. 

Who  could  have  then  predicted  that,  in  a  few 
short  years,  the  palace  of  Saint  Cloud,  where  she 
was  then  an  honored  guest,  vrould  be  reduced  to 
a  similar  condition?  Xo  sad  forebodings  came,  to 
darken  the  horizon  on  that  radiant  August  day. 
Queen,  Emperor  and  Court  were  all  in  a  sunny 
mood  like  the  weather  itself.  In  fact,  never  did  Vic- 
toria seem  so  happy,  talkative  and  even  witty  as 
during  this  ten  days'  sojourn  in  France.  Though 
the  Crimean  war  was  then  in  full  progress.  Her 
Majesty  was  most  optimistic  as  to  the  final  outcome 
of  the  conflict;  and  this  mood  was  quite  justified, 
for  Sebastopol  fell  a  week  later.  "Victoria  was 
right,"  said  the  Emperor,  when  the  good  news 
reached  Paris,  ''but  we  didn't  treat  her  as  a  Cas- 
sandra."   The  Empress  gives  this  account: 

I  recall  very  vividly  every  incident  of  that  visit 
to  Neuilly.  The  Imperial  and  royal  carriage 
stopped  in  front  of  the  main  entrance  of  the  castle 
and  the  Queen  stepped  down,  wearing  a  large  white 
silk  hat  with  streamers  floating  behind,  and  mar- 
abou feathers  on  the  top.  Her  flounced  dress  was 
entirely  white,  and  a  bright  green  sunshade  and 
mantle  completed  her  costume.  She  wore  small 
slippers  tied  with  black  ribands  crossed  over  the  in- 
step and  ankle.  A  largo  bag  or  reticule,  made  of 
white  material  and  embroidered  witli  a  large  gilt 
poodle,  hung  from  her  arm.  This  was  all  so  dif- 
ferent fi'om  our  Paris  fashions  of  the  day  that  I 
observed  curiously  every  detail  and  I  see  now  the 
complete  picture  as  I  write." 

It  is  often  said  that  a  sovereign 's  memory  is  very 

189 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

short,  but  such  was  not  the  case  with  Queen  Victoria 
regarding  the  Orleans  Princes.  She  did  not  try  to 
hide  from  us  her  feelings  of  friendship  for  the 
fallen  family.  She  not  only  asked  to  visit  the  ruins 
of  Neuilly;  but  at  the  Trianon,  she  especially 
desired  to  see  the  little  chapel  built  in  1838  by  Louis 
Philippe,  on  the  occasion  of  the  marriage  of  his 
daughter  Marie  to  the  Prince  of  Wiirtemberg.  The 
Queen  spoke  tenderly  of  "poor  Marie"  and  took 
pains  to  explain  her  feelings  to  the  Emperor,  who 
expressed  his  entire  approval  of  her  kind  senti- 
ments and  requested  her  to  beg  Queen  Marie  Amelie 
to  pass  through  France  when  she  went  to  Spain. 

"I  feel  no  animosity  towards  the  Princes  of  Or- 
leans," remarked  the  Emperor;  and  when  Queen 
Victoria  praised  the  correctness  of  their  attitude 
toward  France,  he  merely  answered:  "It  is  to  be 
regretted,  however,  that  their  representatives  here 
are  in  constant  communication  with  my  worst 
enemies." 

"But  what  else  can  you  expect?"  replied  the 
Queen.  "Is  it  not  natural  that  those  who  have  been 
exiled  should  be  constantly  tempted  to  conspire 
against  those  w^ho  have  exiled  them?  Did  you  not 
plot  against  their  government,  yourself,  when  you 
were  in  similar  circumstances?"  she  asked  in  a  most 
gentle  tone,  that  disarmed  any  resentment,  if  any 
had  been  felt. 

The  Emperor's  only  reply  was  to  propose  that 
the  Queen  should  visit  the  chapel  erected  on  the 
Route  de  la  Revolte,  just  outside  the  walls  of  Paris, 
in  memory  of  the  Due  d 'Orleans,  Louis  Philippe's 
promising  son,  who  died  on  this  spot  in  1842,  from 
a  carriage  accident. 

190 


IMPEEIAL  AND  ROYAL  VISITS 

By  the  Queen's  desire,  General  Canrobert, 
recently  returned  from  the  Crimea,  was  seated  next 
to  her  at  dinner  on  the  second  day  of  her  visit.  She 
spoke  a  long  time  with  the  brave  soldier  who  gen- 
erously put  aside  his  own  claims  to  be  commander- 
in-chief  in  order  that  the  post  might  be  given  to 
General  Pelissier.  She  questioned  him  minutely 
concerning  the  war,  the  death  of  Lord  Raglan,  the 
sufferings  of  the  army,  and  all  the  details  of  its 
organization  and  movements.  General  Canrobert 
was  much  astonished  at  her  knowledge  of  all  these 
things,  and  the  conversation,  begun  at  dinner,  was 
continued  afterwards,  and  was  only  terminated  by 
the  opening  of  the  concert  given  by  the  prize  pupils 
of  the  Conservatory.  The  English  sovereigns, 
especially  Prince  Albert,  were  very  fond  of  music 
and  they  appeared  to  take  great  pleasure  in  the 
program  that  evening.  Though  the  conversation 
between  the  different  numbers  turned  chiefly  on 
music  and  art,  international  x)olitics  were  oc- 
casionally touched  upon,  and  from  that  moment  the 
Empress  shared  the  opinion  of  the  Emperor  that 
Queen  Victoria  was  not  a  cipher  in  State  affairs. 

Of  course,  all  went  to  the  International  Exhibi- 
tion. But  so  dense  was  the  crowd  assembled  to  wit- 
ness their  arrival  that  for  a  moment  it  was  feared 
they  might  be  crushed.  The  officers  on  guard  had 
the  greatest  trouble  to  part  the  people  so  that  the 
Emperor  and  Prince  Albert  might  pass  witli  the 
Queen  and  the  Empress  on  their  arms;  and  finally, 
they  were  forced  to  enter  by  a  side  door  to  avoid 
the  importunate  curiosity  of  a  too  sympathetic 
throng.  "Popularity  has  its  disadvantages,"  re- 
marked the  Emperor,  with  a  smile.    "Yes,  but  we 

191 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

sovereigns  prefer  even  excessive  attentions  to  cir- 
cumspect neglect,"  answered  the  Qneen  quietly. 
And  the  Prince  Consort  added:  "If  I  were  a  king, 
I  should  prefer  to  be  killed  by  a  crowd  than  by  a 
bullet."  The  Empress  closed  the  dialogue  with: 
"But  I  would  like  to  escape  both."  And  an  agree- 
able examination  of  some  of  the  more  notable  ex- 
hibits followed  this  rather  unpleasant  tumult  at  the 
gates. 

That  evening,  the  actors  of  the  Comedie  Fran- 
gaise  played  before  the  sovereigns  in  the  little 
theater  of  Saint  Cloud.  The  piece  given  was  Alex- 
andre Dumas 's  Demoiselles  de  St.  Cyr,  which  the 
Queen  had  seen  several  times  in  English  in  London, 
and  which  she  desired  to  see  in  French  in  Paris, 
and  given  by  the  talented  troupe  of  the  famous 
State  theater.  "Nothing  can  surpass  their  art,  un- 
less it  be  that  of  Dumas 's,"  she  remarked  at  the 
close. 

On  the  following  day,  the  Queen  visited  Versailles 
and  the  Trianon,  and  in  the  evening  was  present  at 
the  special  gala  performance  at  the  Opera,  then  sit- 
uated in  the  Rue  le  Peletier,  where  it  was  burnt  in 
1873.  Mme.  Alboni  and  Mme.  Cruvelli  sang  with 
great  success  selections  from  various  pieces,  and 
the  evening  closed  with  the  ballet  de  la  Fonti. 

The  aspect  of  the  theater  was  fairylike.  It  was 
brilliantly  illuminated  and  filled  with  ladies  in  full 
dress  and  blazing  jewels,  while  the  gentlemen  were 
all  in  gorgeous  uniforms.  The  Queen  herself  wore 
a  magnificent  diadem  and  a  necklace  of  enormous 
diamonds.  "When  the  ballet  was  over,  the  curtain 
rose  again  for  an  apotheosis  specially  devised  for 
the   occasion,   which   represented   Windsor   Castle. 

192 


IMPERIAL  AND  EOYAL  VISITS 

Delighted  with  "the  kind  thoughfuhiess  of  her 
hosts,"  as  Her  Majesty  expressed  it,  the  Queen 
quickly  turned  towards  the  Empress  and  thanked 
her  effusively.  Eugenie  was  particularly  pleased 
with  this,  for  it  was,  in  fact,  at  her  suggestion  that 
this  interlude  was  introduced. 

The  following  days  were  spent  by  the  Queen  in 
visits  to  the  Tuileries,  the  Louvre  and  other  famous 
museums  and  edifices  of  Paris.  The  public  had  not 
entirely  left  the  Louvre  at  the  hour  when  the  royal 
party  arrived  there.  The  heat  was  stifling.  The 
Queen,  seated  in  a  rolling  chair,  was  wheeled 
around  the  galleries,  but  as  soon  as  the  public  left 
the  building  she  rose,  and  saying  to  the  Empress, 
'^Now  I  can  take  off  my  hat  and  mantle,"  suited  the 
action  to  the  words,  and,  putting  her  things  on  the 
chair  as  if  she  had  been  in  a  salon,  continued  her 
visit  on  foot. 

Later,  all  drove  past  the  Conciergerie,  when  the 
Emperor  observed:  "That  is  where  I  was  im- 
prisoned." The  Queen  gazed  intently  at  the  historic 
jail,  but  said  nothing.  There,  it  will  be  remembered. 
Prince  Louis  Napoleon  was  confined  during  his  trial 
in  1840,  after  the  Boulogne  affair.  Eugenie  thought 
she  saw  the  Queen's  lips  part  twice,  as  if  about  to 
speak;  but  eacli  time  she  closed  thorn  again  with  a 
determined  muscular  movement.  The  subject  was 
a  delicate  one,  and  the  Queen  evidently  felt  that  tliis 
was  a  moment  when  silence  is  golden.  Jjotli  the 
Emperor  and  the  En;f)i'ess  were  several  times 
struck,  during  this  memorable  visit,  ])y  the  tact  and 
astuteness  of  Her  Majesty. 

The  ball  at  the  CAiy  Hall  took  plac(!  on  tlie  Thurs- 
day.   Before  that  festivity,  the  (^)ueen  and  Prince 

193 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

Albert  dined  at  the  Tuileries  with  the  Emperor, 
Princess  Mathilde,  the  chief  officers  of  the  cro^\Ti 
and  General  Canrobert.  The  Prince  of  Wales  and 
Princess  Victoria  returned  to  Saint  Cloud,  where 
they  dined  with  the  Empress,  as  she  was  unable, 
owing  to  her  then  delicate  state  of  health,  to  attend 
the  ball.  During  the  dinner  at  the  Tuileries,  the 
Queen  stated  that  she  had  had  time,  notwithstand- 
ing her  many  engagements,  to  make  several  draw- 
ings or  sketches,  one  of  which  represented  the 
Gardes '  band  at  the  Trianon,  and  the  other  a  group 
of  zouaves  in  the  park  at  Saint  Cloud.  At  a  much 
later  period  I  saw  these  specimens,  with  many 
others,  of  Victoria's  artistic  talent,  which  was  not 
of  an  ordinary  character.  In  fact,  she  always  re- 
gretted, she  told  the  Empress,  that  she  had  not 
found,  in  her  busy  life,  more  leisure  for  work  with 
pencil  and  brush. 

The  ball  given  at  the  City  Hall  was  truly  mag- 
nificent. The  Queen  appeared  in  a  w^hite  lace  dress, 
wearing  on  her  head  a  heavy  diadem  in  which  shone 
the  famous  jewel  of  the  English  crowm,  the  Koh-i- 
Noor,  while  the  Emperor  wore  the  celebrated  Re- 
gent on  his  sword  hilt.  Uniforms  of  all  colors,  Arab 
burnous,  ladies  covered  with  gems  and  diamonds — 
all  concurred  to  make  the  scene  a  wonderful  and 
memorable  one.  The  next  day  the  Queen  could  not 
find  words  to  tell  how  much  she  was  impressed  by 
this  festivity.  "The  only  shortcoming,  but  it  was  a 
great  one,"  remarked  Her  Majesty  to  the  Empress, 
not  perfunctorily  but  with  evident  sincerity,  which 
was  characteristic,  ''was  your  absence.  My  satis- 
faction would  have  been  complete,  if  you  could  have 
enjoyed  the  whole  beautiful  fete." 

194 


IMPERIAL  AND  ROYAL  VISITS 

The  grand  review  on  tlie  Champ  de  Mars  had 
been  fixed  for  the  following  day,  and  the  Queen 
expressed  her  desire  to  visit  the  tomb  of  Napoleon 
I  the  same  afternoon.  It  was  found  necessary, 
owing  to  the  very  hot  weather,  to  put  off  the  review 
imtil  five  o'clock,  and,  naturally,  that  seemed  to 
render  the  Queen's  visit  to  the  Invalides  on  the 
same  day  impossible.  Therefore,  Marshal  d'Or- 
nano,  who  was  given  temporary  command  at  the 
Invalides,  King  Jerome,  the  great  Napoleon's 
brother,  having  expressed  a  wish  not  to  be  present 
on  the  occasion,  was  much  surprised  to  receive  a 
message  telling  him  of  the  arrival  of  the  sovereigns. 

Nothing  could  have  been  more  impressive  than 
that  twilight  visit  to  Napoleon's  tomb.  A  violent 
storm  burst  over  Paris  at  that  moment;  claps  of 
thunder  shook  the  windows  of  the  chapel  and  the 
noise  rumbled  through  the  arches,  while  repeated 
flashes  of  lightning  gave  an  almost  super-natural 
aspect  to  this  impressive  scene.  Waterloo  and  Saint 
Helena  rose  in  every  mind,  and  the  presence  of  the 
Queen  of  England  before  the  coffin  of  one  whom  her 
people  had  imprisoned  drew  tears  to  the  eyes  of  all 
present.  The  Queen  herself,  who  was  much  moved, 
said  gently,  turning  to  the  Prince  of  Wales :  ''Kneel 
down  at  Napoleon's  tomb."  Later  she  wrote:  "I 
was  there,  leaning  on  the  arm  of  Napoleon,  before 
the  tomb  of  the  most  determined  enemy  of  Eng- 
land, I,  the  grand-daughter  of  the  king  who  hated 
him  most  bitterly,  and  there,  near  me,  was  his 
nephew  who  had  become  my  nearest  and  dearest 
ally.  It  would  seem  that  in  the  face  of  this  mark 
of  respect  paid  to  a  dead  enemy,  old  hatreds  and 
old  jealousies  should  die  away,  and  that  God  had 

195 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

placed  His  seal  on  the  union  now  so  happily  estab- 
lished between  the  two  great  and  powerful  nations. 
May  God  bless  it  indeed  and  prosper  it." 

The  Emperor,  in  his  turn,  had  sent  to  the  Moni- 
ieur  a  note  full  of  similar  sentiments,  which  indi- 
cated much  clear-sightedness  and  revealed  true 
feeling;  and  though  I  was  not  an  eye-witness  of  the 
scene,  I  know  all  its  details,  and  can  realize  fully 
the  genuine  emotion  shown  both  by  the  Emperor 
and  by  the  Queen. 

The  Queen  visited  delightful  Saint  Germain,  and 
brought  away  many  pleasant  recollections  of  the 
superb  view  from  the  famous  terrace,  and  of  the 
cool  drives  through  the  broad  alleys  and  under  the 
stately  trees  of  the  magnificent  forest. 

The  day  before  her  departure,  a  never-to-be-for- 
gotten fete  was  given  in  the  Galerie  des  Glaces  in 
the  palace  of  Versailles.  At  the  command  of  the 
Emperor,  the  gallery  had  been  decorated  in  accord- 
ance with  the  details  shown  in  old  engravings,  so 
as  to  represent  a  ball  as  given  under  Louis  XV. 
The  Queen,  Prince  Albert  and  their  two  children 
were  delighted.  The  Emperor,  who  was  in  a  very 
gay  mood,  had  young  Princess  Victoria  dance  with 
him,  and  the  traditional  supper,  as  pictured  in  a 
celebrated  water-colour  by  Eugene  Lami,  to  be 
found  in  the  Louvre  collection,  was  served  at  small 
tables  in  the  theater. 

Among  the  foreigners  of  note  who  were  presented 
to  the  Queen  during  the  party  was  Count  Bismarck, 
then  German  minister  at  Frankfort,  on  a  visit  to 
Paris.  Who  could  then  have  imagined  that,  fifteen 
years  later,  this  soldier-diplomat  would  return  to 
that  same  gallery  in  the  role  of  the  pitiless  con- 

196 


IMPERIAL  AND  ROYAL  VISITS 

queror,  and  that  in  that  very  room  would  be  de- 
clared the  unity  of  the  German  Empire ! 

The  last  day  of  the  Queen's  visit,  which  w^as 
Sunday,  and,  at  the  same  time.  Prince  Albert's 
birthday,  was  passed  in  the  strictest  intimacy  at 
Saint  Cloud ;  and  on  Monday  the  royal  visitors  took 
leave.  The  adieux  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  and  Prin- 
cess Victoria  to  the  Empress  were  especially  affect- 
ing and  tender.  They  beg-ged  her  to  ask  the  Queen 
to  leave  them  a  few  days  longer  in  Paris.  Eugenie 
promised  to  transmit  their  request  but  without  giv- 
ing them  much  hope  of  success,  "for,"  she  said  to 
the  little  Prince,  "I  am  sure  the  Queen  and  Prince 
Albert  want  to  have  their  children  with  them  at 
BalmoraL"  "Oh!  no,"  replied  the  Prince  of  Wales, 
"they  don't  really  need  us,  they  have  so  many  more 
in  England." 

The  Empress  had  become  much  attached  to  the 
children,  particularly  to  Princess  Victoria,  who  was 
very  gentle  and  affectionate.  Later,  Eugenie  often 
spoke  of  her  winning  manners.  A  picture  by  ]\Iiiller 
representing  tlie  arrival  of  the  Queen,  Prince  Al- 
bert and  their  children,  used  to  hang  over  the  grand 
staircase  at  Saint  Cloud,  wliere  it  was  placed  at  the 
Empress'  request.  Unfortunately,  it  was  burnt  at 
the  destruction  of  the  palace  in  1870,  in  spite  of  the 
efforts  made,  at  the  command  of  Prince  Frederick, 
husband  of  Princess  A^ictoria,  to  save  it. 

The  (^ueen  and  tlie  Empress  both  felt  much  real 
regret  when  taking  leave  of  one  another.  Even  at 
this  early  day,  Queen  \'ictoria  was  very  kind  in  her 
attentions  to  Eugenie  and  during  tlic  (la\'S  of  sor- 
row which  followed,  Ilei-  ^ilajesty  never  failed  to 
display  the  true  and  lasting  (quality  of  her  sympa- 

197 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

thy.  "It  is  au  revoir,"  said  the  Emperor  when  leav- 
ing the  Queen  at  Boulogne.  "Indeed,  I  hope  so," 
answered  Victoria,  while  the  Empress  at  Saint 
Cloud  echoed  these  last  farewells  on  the  shores  of 
the  Channel,  the  closing  acts  of  a  memorable  royal 
visit. 


CHAPTER  IX 

GERMAN"    AXD    RUSSIAN    ROYAL    VISITORS 

Much  importance  was  attaclied  to  the  visit  paid  in 
1856  by  Prince  Frederick  William  of  Prussia,  who, 
in  1870,  became  Kaiser  Wilhelm.  He  was  at  this 
time  nearly  sixty  years  of  age,  having  been  bom  in 
1797,  and,  as  son  of  King  Frederick  William  III, 
was  the  brother  and  heir  of  Frederick  William  IV, 
whose  health  was  very  poor.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  he  came  to  the  Prussian  throne  in  January, 
1861. 

Charming  both  by  the  distinction  of  his  manners 
and  by  his  gallantry  towards  women,  the  Prince  of 
Prussia  deserved  to  have  great  success  at  the  Court 
of  the  Tuileries.  He  showed  marked  respect  for  the 
Emperor  and  was  soon  on  pleasant  terms  with  us 
all.  His  deportment  x>artook  of  the  military  officer 
and  of  the  court  gentleman,  while  his  kindly  ap})o;i'-- 
ance,  his  spirited  conversation  and  his  often 
familiar  and  joking  talk,  pleased  all  whom  he  met. 
In  a  word,  the  future  Emperor  of  Germany  pro- 
duced a  strong  impression  on  all  the  official  world 
of  the  Second  Empire. 

The  Prince  reached  Paris  from  Osborne,  accom- 
panied by  General  von  Rehreekenstein,  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  7th  Prussian  ai-my  corps,  and  by 
General  von  Moltke,  who  was  destined  to  become 
famous  in  later  days.    He  was  of  course  received 

199 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

with  much  pomp.  The  Marquis  de  Toulongeon, 
Colonel  and  orderly  officer  of  the  Emperor,  and 
Comte  de  Riencourt,  equerry,  went  to  Calais  to 
meet  him.  When  he  reached  Paris  on  December 
11th,  Prince  Napoleon  and  his  suite  were  at  the 
Northern  Railway  station  to  receive  him,  and  four 
of  the  finest  Court  carriages,  escorted  by  a  platoon 
of  Gardes,  carried  him  and  his  party  to  the  Tuile- 
ries.  At  the  foot  of  the  great  staircase  in  the  palace, 
the  grand  Chamberlain  and  the  Grand  Master  of 
Ceremonies  awaited  him.  At  the  top  of  the  stair- 
case stood  the  Emperor,  who  welcomed  him  warmly 
and  conducted  him  immediately  to  the  White  Salon, 
where,  surrounded  by  her  household,  the  Empress 
was  ready  to  greet  the  princely  guest.  This  first 
moment  was  seized  to  impress  on  this  German 
Prince  our  desire  to  do  honor  to  his  house  and 
country,  and  the  warmth  of  his  reception  was  evi- 
dently fully  appreciated  by  the  Prince,  both  at  that 
moment  and  throughout  his  sojourn  in  Paris. 

Sumptuous  apartments  had  been  reserved  for  the 
Prince  of  Prussia  in  the  Pavilion  de  Marsan  at 
the  northwest  corner  of  the  Tuileries,  which  por- 
tion was  burnt  during  the  Commune  but  has  now 
been  rebuilt.  That  same  evening,  with  his  suite  and 
the  members  of  the  legation,  he  dined  at  the  Im- 
perial table,  when  the  Prince  made  a  most  favor- 
able impression  on  all  who  met  him. 

On  December  13th  a  review  was  passed  in  the 
Court  of  the  Tuileries.  Nine  regiments  of  the  line 
and  three  battalions  of  Chasseurs  a  pied  filed  by  the 
sovereigns.  These  troops  had  all  served  in  the 
Crimean  war,  and  were  commanded  by  Marshal 
Magnan.    The  Emperor  had  by  his  side  the  Prince 

200 


BOYAL  VISITOES 

of  Prussia  and  they  were  surrounded  by  a  brilliant 
staff  among  whom  were  Marshals  Vaillant,  Bara- 
guay  d'Hilliers,  Polissier,  Canrobert  and  Bosquet. 
Accompanied  by  the  ladies  and  officers  of  the  house- 
hold, the  Empress  stood  on  the  balcony  of  the  grand 
Salle  des  Marechaux.  After  the  review,  the  Em- 
peror, in  the  presence  of  the  regimental  flags,  glori- 
ously pierced  with  shot  and  soiled  by  powder,  dis- 
tributed crosses  and  medals.  During  the  review,  the 
young  Prince  Imperial,  coming  out  of  the  Tuileries, 
passed  between  the  lines  of  soldiers  and  was  en- 
thusiastically cheered.  What  memories  are  awak- 
ened by  that  vision  of  the  young  heir  standing  thus 
in  the  presence  of  one  whose  visit  was  then  a  cause 
of  rejoicing,  and  who,  less  than  fifteen  years  later, 
was  to  deal  such  a  fatal  blow  to  his  friendly  hosts ! 

The  future  Kaiser's  love  of  things  military  was 
noticeable  during  the  ceremony.  Eecall  how  he 
studied  every  movement  of  the  soldiers,  examined 
the  cut  of  their  uniform  and  the  shape  of  their 
utensils,  put  questions  to  the  French  officers  near 
him,  and  in  a  word,  sliowcd  that  the  smallest  army 
details  were  not  beneath  his  notice.  It  was  said 
that  he  even  made  notes  in  the  evening  on  what  he 
saw  and  heard  during  the  day. 

The  program  included  a  stay  of  two  days  at 
Fontainebleau.  The  Emperor  and  the  Prince  of 
Prussia  arrived  tliere  on  the  15tli  and  spent  tlie 
16th  reviewing  the  dragoons  and  lancers.  The  Em- 
press arrived  on  the  following  morning  and  the  rest 
rjf  the  day  was  spent  in  a  stag-hunt,  in  the  forest. 
But  again  it  was  remarked  that,  though  the  Prince 
was  a  good  shot  and  greatly  enjoyed  the  beautiful 
woods  and  the  well-organised  hunt,  it  was  the  sol- 

201 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

diers,  the  barracks  and  the  guns  which  received  the 
most  of  his  attention. 

The  same  evening  the  Court  returned  to  Paris. 
On  the  17th  the  Imperial  Guard  was  reviewed  in  the 
court  of  the  Tuileries.  The  Emperor,  wearing  the 
grand  cordon  of  the  Black  Eagle,  the  highest  of  the 
German  orders,  and  surrounded  by  a  brilliant  staff, 
yielded  the  post  of  honor  on  the  side  nearest  the 
troops  to  the  Prince  of  Prussia  and  often  spoke  to 
him.  In  spite  of  the  bitter  cold,  the  Empress  again^ 
accompanied  by  a  certain  number  of  the  ladies,  wit- 
nessed the  review  from  the  balconj^  of  the  Salle 
des  Marechaux.  Among  these  ladies  was  the 
Countess  of  Hatzfeld,  daughter  of  the  Marquis  de 
Castellane  and  wife  of  the  Prussian  minister  to 
Paris.  She  will  be  mentioned  again  further  on  in 
this  chapter. 

That  same  evening,  at  the  palace  of  the  Prussian 
Legation,  a  dinner  was  given  in  honor  of  the 
Prince,  chiefly  to  military  guests,  among  whom  were 
seven  marshals  of  France  and  General  Reg-naud  de 
St.  Jean  d'Angely,  commander  of  the  Garde.  The 
Prince  spoke  much  on  military  matters  with  several 
of  these  officers,  and  charmed  all  his  hearers,  it  was 
said  afterwards  by  one  of  those  present.  At  the 
select  ball  which  was  given  on  the  following  day  in 
the  Salle  des  Marechaux,  the  Prince  of  Prussia  ap- 
peared veiy  lively  and  remained  till  three  in  the 
morning.  He  gave  good  evidences  of  his  skill  as  a 
dancer,  though  he  was  far  from  perfect  in  this  art. 

The  Prince  visited  Saint  Cyr,  the  French  military 
school,  on  December  19th,  where  he  witnessed 
several  exercises  performed  by  the  cadets  and  went 
away  well  satisfied  with  all  he  had  seen.  In  conver- 

202 


ROYAL  VISITORS 

sation  later,  he  praised  several  features  of  this 
famous  school  and  complimented  some  of  the  ofB- 
cers  on  the  proficiency  of  their  pupils.  Thus  ended 
the  military  receptions  given  in  honor  of  the 
Prince  of  Prussia,  who  had  not  lost  his  time  and  had 
well  employed  his  inspecting  faculties. 

The  fine  arts,  in  which  Paris  was  so  rich  and 
Berlin  then  so  poor,  also  had  their  part  in  the 
program  of  the  festivities  attending  the  Prince's 
visit.  He  was  present  at  a  representation  of  the 
Corsaire  at  the  Opera,  in  which  Rosati,  the  famous 
Italian  ballet  dancer,  appeared.  He  went  the  day 
before  his  departure  to  the  Comedie  Franc^aise  with 
the  Emperor  and  the  Empress.  On  these  occasions, 
he  displayed  an  intelligent  appreciation  of  music 
and  the  drama,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  give  his 
views  about  composers,  singers,  playwrights,  the 
State  theater,  and  so  forth.  But  it  was  evident  that 
he  was  not  so  much  at  home  on  these  subjects  as  on 
his  favorite  theme,  the  army  and  government. 

On  the  day  of  his  leaving  Paris,  the  Prince  once 
again  dined  with  the  court  and  the  members  of  the 
German  Legation.  The  greatest  cordiality  pre- 
vailed. The  Marquis  de  Toulongeon  and  the  Comte 
de  Riencourt  accompanied  the  Prince  as  far  as 
Strasbourg,  when  he  finally  turned  homewards. 
They  were  ordered  by  the  P]m]')eror  to  treat  him 
with  marked  attention  to  the  very  frontier,  and  this 
order  was  faithfully  carried  out,  as  the  Prince  liim- 
self  informed  us  by  telegram. 

The  warmth  with  which  the  Prince  of  Prussia  had 
been  received  could  not  escape  the  notice  of  Europe. 
The  relations  between  France  and  I'rnssia  were  as 
friendly  as  possible  at  that  date,  and  the  Emperor 

203 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

was  desirous  of  securing  tlie  assistance  of  that 
Power  in  the  event  of  any  alterations  occurring  in 
the  distribution  of  European  territories.  Prince 
William  had  shown  himself  to  be  very  charming 
and  evidently  felt  that  there  were  many  reasons 
why  an  exchange  of  friendly  attentions  should  be 
made.  He  perceived  also  that  the  Countess  of  Hatz- 
feld  was  much  appreciated  by  the  Emperor  and 
Empress,  and  that  she  strove  earnestly  to  unite  the 
two  countries  as  closely  as  possible.  It  is  much  to 
be  deplored  that  her  diplomatic  career  was  so  soon 
ended  by  the  death  of  her  husband ;  for  had  she  been 
Ambassadress  of  Prussia  in  1870,  she  would  surely 
have  played  an  important  part  and  perhaps  might 
have  smoothed  over  the  difficulties  which  led  to  the 
fatal  war;  for,  at  that  date,  all  were  on  the  friend- 
liest terms,  and  the  Emperor,  too,  highly  appreci- 
ated her  kindness  and  sjmipathy,  which  were  fully 
reciprocated. 

During  the  spring  of  1857  an  event  occurred 
which  was  justly  considered  to  have  considerable 
significance  and  which  proved  indeed  the  prelude  to 
a  definite  reconciliation  between  France  and  Eus- 
sia.  This  was  the  visit  to  Prance  of  the  Grand  Duke 
Constantine  Nicolaievitch,  brother  of  Emperor 
Alexander  II,  Grand  Admiral  of  Russia,  hitherto  a 
most  enthusiastic  partisan  of  his  father's  bellig- 
erent policy  and  during  the  Crimean  war  openly 
opposed  to  all  efforts  of  conciliation.  Xo  wonder, 
therefore,  that  his  arrival  in  Paris  was  looked  upon 
as  an  occurrence  of  great  importance,  which  justi- 
fies a  somewhat  detailed  account  of  this  much- 
heralded  visit. 

The  Grand  Duke  landed  at  Toulon  on  xA.pril  20th, 

204 


EOYAL  VISITORS 

and  was  the  honored  guest  in  that  militaiy  port 
during  several  days  which  were  devoted  to  banquets 
and  festivities  of  all  kinds.  He  then  proceeded  to 
Paris,  where  he  arrived  on  April  30th  and  was 
welcomed  by  Prince  Napoleon,  and  numerous  other 
high  functionaries.  Two  squadrons  of  the  Regiment 
of  Gardes  formed  the  escort.  The  procession 
passed  along  the  boulevards,  the  Rue  de  la  Paix,  the 
Rue  de  Rivoli,  under  the  triumphal  arch  of  the  Car- 
rousel, and  reached  the  Tuileries  palace  by  a  road 
bordered  on  either  side  by  Gardes.  This  display  of 
the  finest  soldiers  of  the  French  army,  a  very  com- 
mon custom  in  France  under  all  regimes,  was  made 
for  several  purposes.  In  the  first  place,  the  Grand 
Duke  was  pleased  with  everything  military  and  it 
was  a  delicate  compliment  to  him  to  surround  him 
with  this  elite.  The  Emperor  desired  also  to  show 
this  representative  of  Russia,  Europe  in  general 
and  the  French  people  in  particular,  that,  notwith- 
standing the  rather  inglorious  results  of  the  Cri- 
mean war,  France  still  possessed  a  magnificent 
army  and  was  still  animated  by  a  martial  spirit  as 
of  old. 

When  the  arrival  of  the  Grand  Duke  was  an- 
nounced at  the  Tuileries,  the  Emperor  came  to  the 
top  of  the  staircase  to  receive  him,  and  at  once  con- 
ducted him  to  the  White  Salon  where  the  Empress 
was  waiting.  That  same  evening  there  was  a  large 
dinner-party  at  the  Tuileries,  and  the  next  day  the 
Grand  Duke  visited  the  Louvre.  He  was  partic- 
ularly interested  by  tlie  Sovei'eigii's  museum  con- 
taining objects  which  had  belonged  to  Charlemagne, 
to  the  ('apetian  and  \^al()is  kings,  tlic  lioiirbons  and 
the   Napoleons.    He   stoppcsd  long  in  front  of  the 

205 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

gray  coat  and  the  little  Marengo  hat  of  the  first 
Bonaparte;  nor  did  he  fail,  later,  to  visit  Na- 
poleon's tomb  at  the  Invalides,  as,  indeed,  was  then 
the  custom  with  all  the  other  royal  visitors  who 
came  to  Paris.  In  fact,  this  official  worship  of  the 
great  Napoleon  was  a  credo  of  the  Second  Empire 
practised  not  only  by  the  French  court  and  govern- 
ment, but  by  many  of  the  courts  and  governments, 
especially  the  courts,  of  other  European  states.  So 
while  Napoleon  III  never  wearied  of  studying  tlic 
thoughts  and  actions  of  Napoleon  I,  and  of  con- 
tinually placing  these  thoughts  and  actions  before 
the  eyes  of  the  French  people,  the  royalties  of  Con- 
tinental Europe  who  wished  to  ingratiate  them- 
selves with  the  French  court  and  government  con- 
sidered that  one  of  the  best  ways  to  accomplish  this 
end  was  to  show  an  interest  in  this  same  credo.  The 
Emperor,  however,  was  not  blind  to  the  occasional 
insincerity  of  this  foreign  incense  but  accepted  it  as 
honest  because  it  exactly  squared  with  his  own 
policy — worship  of  Bonaparte. 

During  the  inspection  of  the  Marine  Museum, 
which  took  place  after  the  visit  to  the  Louvre  pic- 
ture galleries,  the  Grand  Duke  found  a  good  oppor- 
tunity to  show  his  considerable  naval  knowledge, 
for  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  he  was  one  of  the 
favorite  pupils  of  that  famous  Russian  navigator 
and  explorer.  Count  Lutke.  Nor  was  the  Grand 
Duke  without  great  merit  quite  on  his  own  account, 
for  his  Fabian  policy  when  he  commanded  the  Rus- 
sian fleet  in  the  Baltic  during  1854-55,  prevented  the 
British  from  gaining  any  decisive  victory. 

A  grand  ball  was  given  by  the  Minister  of  the 
Marine,  and  the  Duke  walked  round  the  rooms  with 

206 


ROYAL  VISITORS 

Princess  Mathilde  on  liis  arm.  Next  came  a  select 
party  at  the  City  Hall  consisting  of  a  concert  and 
dances  followed  by  a  supper  in  the  Throne  room. 
Then  there  was  a  dinner  at  the  Invalides  with  King 
Jerome,  a  ball  at  the  Tuileries,  gala  performances 
at  the  Opera,  a  visit  to  the  fortress  of  Vincennes, 
several  days  spent  in  attending  the  events  on  the 
newly  opened  race-course  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne 
— nothing,  in  short,  was  spared  that  might  interest 
and  amuse  the  honored  guest.  Finally,  in  this  con- 
nection, was  a  grand  review  on  May  6th  of  the 
(xardes  and  the  Paris  garrison,  on  the  Champ  de 
Mars.  This  review  was  notable  from  the  fact  that 
it  was  the  first  time  all  the  regiments  of  the  Gardes 
were  united  under  one  command  and  in  the  same 
review.  Thus  there  were  the  battalion  of  Chasseurs 
a  pied,  four  regiments  of  light  cavalry,  the  three 
regiments  of  grenadiers,  a  regiment  of  zouaves, 
engineers,  Gendarmes,  two  artillery  regiments, 
equipment  wagons,  and  so  forth,  the  Guides,  Cui- 
rassiers, Chasseurs,  Lancers  and  the  Dragoons  of 
the  Empress.  The  Emperor  rode  over  the  Pont 
d'Jena  to  the  Champ  de  Mars,  having  at  his  side  the 
Grand  Duke  Constantine,  Prince  Xapoleon,  and  the 
Duke  of  Nassau,  while  behind  tlicm  I'odc  the  }Jar- 
shals  Paraguay  d'lliiliers,  Polissier,  Cani'ohcrt  and 
Bosquet.  The  standards  and  Hags  ol*  tJio  newly 
formed  regiments  of  the  Gardes  were  handed  to 
their  colonels  by  tin,'  Emj)eror  in  person.  I'iscorted 
and  surrounded  by  a  platoon  of  (Jai'des,  llie  Em- 
])ress  witnessed  the  review  from  aTi  oy)eii  cari-iage. 
I^ater,  she  watched  tlie  troo{)s  fi'om  the  balcony  of 
the  Military  school  as  they  filed  past. 

This  grand  review,  which  passed  off  with  eclat, 

207 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

made  a  sensation  not  only  in  Paris  but  throughout 
Europe  and  did  not  a  little  to  increase  the  military 
prestige  of  France;  which  was  the  very  purpose  the 
Emperor  had  in  view.  While  honoring  the  Grand 
Duke,  he  was  augmenting  his  own  power.  This  was 
another  credo  of  the  Second  Empire. 

On  May  11th  the  Emperor,  the  Prince  Imperial 
and  the  Empress  went  to  Fontainebleau  to  spend  a 
few  days  there  in  company  with  the  Grand  Duke 
Constantine,  the  Grand  Duchess  Stephanie  of 
Baden  and  Prince  Nicolas  of  Nassau.  Delighted  by 
this  unexpected  visit,  the  citizens  of  Fontainebleau 
spared  no  pains  to  greet  us  with  every  mark  of 
enthusiasm.  The  streets  were  decorated  for  our 
arrival  in  the  afternoon,  and  brilliantly  illuminated 
in  the  evening  as  a  sign  of  general  rejoicing.  The 
stag-hunt  on  the  12th  was  very  magnificent.  A  great 
concourse  of  people  gathered  at  the  rendezvous, 
and  the  imperial  party,  speaking  as  genially  as  pos- 
sible with  the  persons  around  it,  was  highly  pleased 
to  find  it  was  everywhere  greeted  with  enthusiastic 
cheers.  This  kindly  reception  of  the  father  and 
mother  of  the  Prince  Imperial  and  the  wife  of  the 
Emperor  bespoke  the  popularity  of  the  Court,  which 
was  another,  though  perhaps  a  minor,  sign  of  the 
increasing  solidity  of  the  regime.  It,  too,  made  a 
certain  impression,  we  learned  later,  on  the  Grand 
Duke  and  the  other  foreign  notabilities  then  at  Fon- 
tainebleau. 

In  the  evening  there  was  a  torch-light  hunt.  The 
gates  into  the  castle  grounds  were  left  open,  so  that 
the  public  was  able  to  enter  and  show  its  enthus- 
iasm. The  follomng  days  were  spent  in  long  walks 
and  drives  through  the  forest  and  the  neighbour- 

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ROYAL  VISITORS 

hood  of  Fontainebleau,  a  grand  dinner  in  the  Gal- 
erie  Henri  II  and  the  inauguration  of  a  pretty 
theater  constructed  by  the  architect  Lefuel  in  the 
right  wing  of  the  castle.  On  that  occasion  the  actors 
of  the  Comedie  Frangaise  played  with  their  usual 
talent  and  the  Grand  Duke  could  not  praise  too 
highly  this  excellent  troupe.  On  the  14th,  the  last 
day  of  the  Grand  Duke's  stay,  there  was  a  large 
dinner  party  in  the  forest,  preceded  by  a  long  walk. 
The  return  to  the  castle  at  night  was  made  by 
torch-light,  about  nine  o'clock,  and  two  hours  later 
the  Emperor  himself  conducted  his  guest  to  the 
station  and  bade  him  a  cordial  farewell. 

They  always  liked  to  recall  that  short  stay  at 
Fontainebleau,  which  had  occurred  this  year  much 
earlier  in  the  season  than  usual.  It  was  this  season 
that  the  Prince  Imperial  made  his  first  attempts  at 
walking,  in  a  spot  he  learned  to  love  so  dearly  in 
after  years.  It  was  also  during  this  visit  that  the 
final  reconciliation  with  Russia  was  effected  after 
so  many  years  of  chivalrous  but  bloody  struggles; 
for  the  Emperor  made  the  most  of  the  many  oc- 
casions afforded  him  to  speak  confidentially  and  at 
length  with  the  Grand  Duke  and  the  diplomats,  both 
French  and  Russian,  wlio  were  of  the  party.  The 
political  horizon  thou  appeared  clear  and  cloudless, 
both  at  home  and  abroad,  for  the  Emperor  and  the 
Empress  both  enjoyed  great  popularity,  tlie  latter 
being  particularly  well  treated  at  this  moment.  All 
these  causes  united  in  making  this  sojourn  at  Fon- 
tainebleau very  enjoyable  and  explain  why  it  was 
ever  remembered  with   })eculiar  yileasure. 

The  visit  of  King  ^laximilian  IT  of  R)avaria  fol- 
lowed immediately  upon  that  of  the  Grand  Duke 

209 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

Constaiitine.  He  bad  strongiy  manifested  a  desire 
to  spend  a  few  days  at  the  Court  of  Napoleon  III 
and  had  been  encouraged  by  the  Baron  de  Meneval, 
French  Ambassador  in  Munich,  to  undertake  a  jour- 
ney which,  he  know,  coukl  have  only  pleasant  exper- 
iences in  store  for  him. 

Maximilian  II  mounted  the  throne  of  Bavaria 
when  his  father,  King  Louis,  abdicated,  in  1848.  He 
was  a  man  of  cultured  mind,  a  lover  of  letters  and 
the  sciences  and  was  well  versed  in  philosophical 
studies.  But  by  far  tlie  most  interesting  fact  about 
him  was  that,  though  he  had  married  the  daughter 
of  Prince  Frederick  William  of  Prussia,  he  was 
known  to  be  opposed  to  the  project,  then  greatly 
stirring  the  Teutonic  public,  which  favored  the 
unification  of  Germany  with  the  King  of  Prussia  as 
its  head.  Fortunately  for  his  spirit  of  independ- 
ence, he  died  before  this  was  accomplished  and  it 
was  left  to  his  son  to  experience  the  humiliation  of 
seeing  Bavaria  sink  into  the  German  Empire,  which 
happened  in  November,  1870. 

The  King  reached  Lyons  on  the  evening  of  May 
15,  1857,  and  was  received  with  much  state  at  the 
railway  station.  The  troops  of  the  garrison  were  all 
gathered  at  the  entrance,  while  Marshal  de  Castel- 
lane,  commander-in-chief,  took  his  place  on  the 
right  of  the  carriage  to  which  the  King  was  con- 
ducted, and  which  was  drawn  by  four  fine  horses. 
The  Emperor  sent  to  Lyons  several  officers  of  his 
houseliold  to  meet  the  King,  among  them  being 
Comte  de  Tascher  do  la  Pagerie,  first  Chamberlain, 
a  relative  of  the  Empress,  who,  as  is  stated  else- 
where in  these  memoirs,  had  been  educated  in 
Bavaria,   where   he  had  many   acquamtances.    He 

210 


ROYAL  VISITORS 

was  a  great  favorite  with  King  Maximilian.  Tiius 
were  the  Emperor's  attentions,  as  was  his  wont, 
carried  into  the  smallest  details. 

After  a  review  of  the  troops  on  the  Place  Belle- 
cour,  Lyons,  the  King  of  Bavaria  left  for  Paris  on 
May  17th,  and  reached  Fontainebleau  at  six  o'clock 
and  the  palace  a  few  minutes  later.  Followed  by 
officers  of  his  household,  the  Emperor  advanced  to 
meet  the  King  as  far  as  the  foot  of  the  staircase, 
while  the  Empress  stood  at  the  head,  surrounded  by 
the  ladies  of  her  suite.  The  presentations  took 
place  in  the  Galerie  Francois  I,  after  which  the  din- 
ner was  served  in  the  Galerie  Henri  II,  always  so 
beautiful  with  its  Primaticcio  frescoes.  The  fol- 
lowing day  the  Emperor  and  King  of  Bavaria  drove 
through  the  forest  of  Fontainebleau  in  a  little  car- 
riage which  the  Emperor  was  fond  of  driving  him- 
self. Numerous  guests  from  Paris  had  been  invited 
to  be  present  during  the  sojourn  of  King  Maxi- 
milian at  the  palace,  and  their  attendance  added 
greatly  to  the  interest  of  the  occasion. 

During  the  Second  P]mpire  the  Emperor  utilized 
all  the  fine  things  of  France  to  augment  the  eclat 
of  the  regime.  For  instance,  nobody  before  him 
brought  to  bear  in  such  a  thorough  manner  the  won- 
derful natural  attractions  of  the  Fontainebleau 
forest.  This  was  especially  the  case  during  the  visit 
of  the  King  of  Bavaria.  Thus,  the  day  after  his  ar- 
rival, there  was  a  grand  promenade  through  the 
forest,  the  King  being  accompanied  by  the  (irand 
Dowager  Duchess  of  Baden,  Princess  Marie  of 
P>aden,  the  Duchess  of  Hamilton  and  all  the  guests 
at  the  palace.  In  the  evening,  favored  by  the  splen- 
did weather,  a  night  fete  was  given  which  turned 

211 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPEESS  EUGENIE 

the  palace  and  grounds  into  fairyland.  Colored 
lights  innumerable  shone  in  the  English  garden  and 
gave  the  appearance  of  operatic  scenery  to  the 
strangely  constructed  castle.  Decorated  and  illum- 
inated boats  floated  over  the  lake,  while  on  the 
pavilion  in  the  center  of  the  lake  the  band  of  the 
Grenadiers  of  the  Gardes  alternated  with  the 
orchestra  from  the  Opera.  The  evening  ended  with 
a  grand  display  of  fire  works,  some  of  which,  break- 
ing over  the  water,  falling  like  showers  of  stars  into 
its  dark  depths,  or  skimming  lightly  in  brilliant  rays 
between  the  shining  boats,  produced  a  most  wonder- 
ful and  original  effect.  On  May  22d  the  beautiful 
wild  gorge  of  Apremont  was  chosen  as  the  grand 
dining-room  in  Avhich  an  open  air  repast  was  of- 
fered to  the  King. 

In  after  years,  when  the  Emperor  would  some- 
times talk  over  with  the  Empress  the  bright  days  of 
the  past,  these  sojourns  at  Fontainebleau  often 
rushed  back  to  them  in  most  vivid  colors.  The  his- 
toric scenes  of  which  the  palace  had  been  the  center 
and  the  great  Bonaparte  the  principal  actor,  and 
the  jjicturesqueness  and  beauty  of  this  superb 
forest  all  helped  to  make  an  indelible  impression  on 
both  of  them,  which  remained  with  the  Emperor  to 
the  very  day  of  his  death.  Eecollections  of  this  visit 
of  King  Maximilian  were  an  especially  bright  spot 
in  these  souvenirs  of  Fontainebleau. 

The  return  to  Paris  took  place  on  May  24th.  The 
King  of  Bavaria  and  the  French  sovereigns  were 
received  at  the  station  by  Prince  Napoleon,  who  had 
just  returned  from  a  journey  to  Germany,  as  will 
be  seen  a  few  pages  further  on  in  this  chapter.  On 
this  occasion  again  the  Prince  appeared  at  his  best 

212 


EOYAL  VISITORS 

and  was  a  real  aid  to  the  Emperor.  He  was  diplo- 
matic, measured  in  his  language  and  made  none  of 
those  ''mistakes"  of  which  so  many  of  the  Second 
Empire  statesmen  complained. 

King  Maximilian  during  his  stay  in  the  capital 
occupied  the  Pavilion  de  Marsan.  He,  of  course, 
found  sufficient  time,  in  spite  of  all  the  dinners  and 
fetes,  to  visit  the  tomb  of  Napoleon.  Everywhere  he 
was  enthusiastically  welcomed,  and  was  evidently 
much  pleased  at  the  attentions  of  which  he  was  the 
object.  He  dined  at  Saint  Cloud  and  delighted  the 
ladies  and  gentlemen  of  the  court,  with  all  of  whom 
he  chatted  most  graciously,  by  his  genial  manners 
and  lively  conversation.  It  was  noted  that  he  spoke 
with  equal  surenoss  about  matters  of  art,  letters, 
politics  and  military  affairs.  His  well-known  oppo- 
sition to  Prussian  aggTandizement  was,  of  course, 
not  the  least  of  the  reasons  for  his  success  in  French 
court  and  political  circles. 

Maximilian  II  left  Paris  on  June  8th  to  return 
to  his  states,  carrying  away  with  him  pleasant  im- 
pressions of  his  journey  to  France,  which  he  often 
liked  to  recall.  At  that  time  the  Imperial  govern- 
ment was  on  the  best  of  terms  with  the  German 
nations,  and  the  Emperor,  who  was  always  much 
interested  in  German  literature,  and  had  a  real  af- 
fection for  Germany  itself,  where  so  much  of  his 
youth  had  been  spent,  awakened  in  the  King  a  feel- 
ing of  strong  personal  affection  which  endured  to 
the  end. 

The  Emperor  was  ever  anxious  to  strengthen  tlie 
friendly  ties  which  already  existed  1)et\veen  France 
and  the  German  states  so  as  to  make  use  of  these 

213 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

good  relations  some  day,  perhaps.  He  wished  to 
conciliate  Russia,  to  gain  Prussia's  firm  alliance, 
and  to  foster  the  friendly  feelings  of  the  secondary 
states  of  Germany,  while  alienating  them  as  much 
as  possible  from  Austria,  in  view  of  the  eventuality 
of  his  having  to  intervene  in  the  relations  of  that 
power  with  Italy.  So  in  1857  the  Emperor  offi- 
cially sent  his  cousin.  Prince  Napoleon,  to  Berlin 
and  to  Dresden,  choosing  the  very  time  when  the 
Grand  Duke  Constantine  and  the  King  of  Bavaria 
were  the  honored  guests  of  the  Tuileries.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  the  first  of  these  personages 
was  the  second  son  of  the  Czar  Nicolas  I  and  played 
a  prominent  part  in  the  Crimean  war;  and  that  he 
married  a  German  princess.  So,  by  showing  him 
attentions,  the  Emperor  was  conciliating  both  Rus- 
sia and  Germany. 

Prince  Napoleon  in  France  and  Prince  Napoleon 
abroad  were  two  very  different  persons.  In  France, 
he  was  ever  a  malcontent,  an  exaggerated  liberal, 
a  democrat  who  delighted  in  upsetting  the  plans  of 
the  Government ;  let  him  but  cross  the  frontiers  and 
he  became  the  Prince,  the  grand  seigneur,  the  dip- 
lomat, the  intelligent,  wary,  cultured  gentleman, 
more  capable  than  any  other  of  seconding  his 
cousin's  views  and  of  obtaining  for  him  the  friend- 
ship of  those  whom  he  desired  to  court.  Prince 
Napoleon  has  had  many  detractors  and  quite  as 
many  adulators,  but  the  estimate  of  neither  was 
exactly  correct.  He  never  forgot  that  he  was  a  Bon- 
apartist,  and  even  if  he  did,  his  interlocutors  could 
not,  because  of  the  very  striking  likeness  which  he 
bore  to  the  great  Napoleon.  When  advancing  years 
and  obesity  had  markedly  changed  the  appearance 

214 


ROYAL  VISITORS 

of  his  younger  years,  his  face  still  preserved  the 
Napoleonic  features. 

Prince  Napoleon  was  met  at  Magdebourg  by  Gen- 
eral von  Brand  and  General  von  Treskow,  who 
escorted  him  to  Berlin,  where  he  was  officially  re- 
ceived on  May  8th,  by  Prince  George  of  Prussia, 
Princes  Augustus  and  William  of  Wiirtemberg, 
Prince  William  of  Baden,  the  Marquis  de  Moustier, 
then  French  Minister  to  Prussia,  and  all  the  staff  of 
the  Legation,  who  awaited  his  arrival  at  the  station. 
So  bent  was  Frederick  William  IV  on  showing  his 
good  will  towards  France,  that,  waiving  all  the  pre- 
scriptions of  court  etiquette,  according  to  which  the 
Prince  should  have  paid  him  the  first  visit  that 
evening,  the  King  himself  came,  shortly  after  the 
arrival  of  his  guest,  to  pay  him  a  surprise-visit, 
which  was  immediately  returned,  when  His  Majesty 
presented  the  Prince  to  the  Queen  and  the  Prin- 
cesses, and  in  the  evening  accompained  him  to  the 
Opera.  The  following  day  he  courteously  gave  the 
Prince  the  place  of  honor  during  the  review  in 
Unter  den  Linden.  That  same  evening  there  was  n 
grand  court  banquet  at  which  the  healths  of  the 
French  Prince  and  that  of  the  Emperor's  family 
were  drunk,  with  appropriate  speeches. 

Prince  Napoleon  had  much  intellectual  force.  He 
could  speak  well  and  write  well.  In  fact,  he  was 
perhaps  more  clever  with  his  tongue  than  with  his 
pen;  and  if  the  formal  toasts  at  this  dinner-table 
were  not  orations,  in  his  private  conversations  with 
the  King,  his  advisors  and  the  Prussian  ofiicial 
world  generally,  the  Prince's  well-known  gift  of 
speech  accomplished  wonders,  lie  never  believed 
that  silence  was  golden,  especially  during  this  par- 

215 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPEESS  EUGENIE 

ticular  visit  to  Germany.  Prince  Napoleon  even  laid 
aside,  on  this  occasion,  his  well-known  Voltairian 
principles,  so  bent  was  he  on  being  faithful  to  the 
fulfillment  of  his  part  as  representative  of  the  Em- 
peror, and  though  he  cared  little  about  religious 
duties,  he  officially  heard  mass  in  the  Catholic 
church,  where  the  Grand  Master  of  Ceremonies 
awaited  him. 

During  his  stay  in  Germany,  the  Prince  spent 
several  evenings  at  the  Opera,  when  he  astonished 
some  of  the  German  composers,  who  were  invited 
to  meet  him,  by  his  large  knowledge  of  German 
music  and  German  musical  writers.  He  received  the 
corps  diplomatique,  having  an  intelligent  word  for 
the  chief  of  each  mission,  and  warmly  w^elcomed  the 
great  savant.  Baron  von  Humboldt,  who  came  to 
pay  his  respects  to  Napoleon's  representative,  with 
Y\  horn  the  Prince  talked  learnedly  on  scientific  prob- 
lems, listening  with  evident  pleasure  to  the  Baron's 
accounts  of  his  wide  travels.  At  Potsdam,  Prince 
Napoleon  visited  the  tomb  of  the  Great  Frederick, 
where  he  learned  that  the  keeper  who  opened  the 
gates  had  known  the  Prussian  hero,  that  it  was  this 
same  keeper  who  in  1806  had  shown  the  tomb  to 
Napoleon  I,  and  now,  in  1857,  conducted  thither  the 
nephew  of  the  conqueror  of  lena  and  the  victim  of 
AVaterloo.  Prince  Napoleon  often  dwelt  upon  this 
little  coincidence  in  his  German  visit  and  long  re- 
membered the  name  of  this  humble  and  aged  porter. 

Prince  Napoleon  was  present  at  the  military 
maneuvers  presided  over  by  the  Prince  of  Prussia 
to  whom  he  had  brouulit  the  grand  cordon  of  the 
Legion  of  Honor,  and  having  been  everywhere  the 

216 


EOYAL  VISITORS 

object  of  most  marked  attentions,  he  left  Berlin  on 
May  14th  for  the  Court  of  Saxony. 

The  welcome  he  received  from  King  John  was  no 
less  cordial  than  that  of  Frederick  William  IV.  He 
visited  many  historic  battlefields,  and  met,  among 
other  famous  men,  Count  von  Beust,  then  president 
of  the  council  of  Ministers  of  Saxony,  but  ten  years 
later  Prime  Minister  of  Austria.  He  also  spent  an 
evening  with  the  dowager-queen  and  the  Arch- 
duchess Sophia,  mother  of  the  present  Emperor  of 
Austria.  These  acquaintances  were  of  value  when 
the  Austro-Prussian  war  occurred  in  1866,  as  they 
enabled  Prince  Napoleon  to  explain  many  matters 
to  his  cousin  that  the  Tuileries  otherwise  would  only 
have  half  understood. 

On  the  occasion  of  the  King's  birthday.  Prince 
Napoleon  proceeded  to  Pillnitz  to  offer  his  congrat- 
ulations, and  was  then  taken  by  the  Saxon  sovereign 
to  Moritzbourg,  a  hunting  box  erected  in  the  woods 
by  the  Elector  Augustus,  King  of  Poland.  After  a 
dinner  enlivened  by  the  music  of  hunting  horns,  the 
party  walked  to  a  glade  in  the  forest  where  a  curi- 
ous spectacle  was  witnessed — troops  of  deer,  stags, 
and  does  coming  in  perfect  freedom  from  all  their 
hiding  places,  to  take  tlie  food  which  is  distributed 
to  them  at  certain  hours  eacli  day.  "This  was  the 
peaceful  and  rural  note  in  tliis  royal  visit,"  wrote 
the  Prince,  "where  politics  and  military  matters 
pushed  all  else  into  the  background." 

On  his  return  to  Paris  on  ]\lay  24th  the  Prince 
had  much  to  toll  Napoleon  III  concei'iiing  the 
cordial  attentions  of  which  he  had  been  the  object, 
and  ho  Iiad  certainly  completoly  fiilfillod  the  wishes 
of  the   Emperor  in  showing  himself  most  friendly 

217 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

towards  the  Court  of  Berlin.  Yet  tlie  Empress  was 
far  from  sharing  Napoleon's  enthusiasm  for  Ger- 
many. Even  then,  she  felt  some  alarm  as  she  wit- 
nessed all  these  tokens  of  amity  shown  the  German 
states.  Eugenie  was  continually  asking  herself  the 
question  :  Are  our  advances  sincerely  accepted?  She 
doubted  it,  and  I  see  now  that  her  doubts  were  well 
founded. 

The  Emperor  and  the  Empress  left  Saint  Cloud 
for  the  Isle  of  Wight  on  August  5,  1857.  The  fol- 
lowing day  they  were  within  sight  of  Osborne. 
Prince  Albert,  accompanied  by  his  second  son,  the 
Duke  of  Edinburgh,  came  on  the  Queen's  yacht  to 
meet  them,  and  they  were  most  cordially  welcomed 
by  Queen  Victoria.  Charmingly  hospitable  and 
gracious,  she  gave  them  a  hearty  welcome  at  Os- 
borne, the  enchanted  home  she  and  her  husband  had 
built  on  the  finest  spot  to  be  found  in  the  island, 
of  which  she  was  justly  proud. 

Immediately  after  lunch,  the  Prince  Consort  had 
a  long  conversation  with  the  Emperor.  Two  days 
later  an  important  interview  took  place  between  the 
Queen,  the  Prince  Consort,  the  Emperor,  Lord 
Palmerston,  Lord  Clarendon,  Count  Walewski,  and 
Comte  de  Persigny.  On  that  occasion  the  Emperor 
did  not  insist,  as  has  been  sometimes  stated,  on  the 
adoption  of  his  proposal  for  the  union  of  the  Dan- 
ubian  principalities  under  the  scepter  of  a  foreign 
prince,  but  merely  asked  tlie  British  Government  to 
disavow  its  ambassador  at  Constantinople  and  sup- 
port the  demand  addressed  by  Franco,  Prussia  and 
Sardinia  to  the  Sublime  Porte  for  the  annulment  of 
the  Moldavian  elections. 

218 


EOYAL  VISITORS 

On  Friday,  the  7th,  the  two  courts  were  out  on 
the  sea  for  some  hours  on  the  royal  yacht  Victoria 
and  Albert.  The  weather  was  glorious  and  the  Em- 
press, who  was  always  so  fond  of  the  water,  was 
delighted;  and  the  rest  of  the  distinguished  party 
also  appeared  to  enjoy  themselves  greatly.  In  the 
evening,  there  was  a  grand  dinner  at  the  castle.  On 
the  Saturday,  after  a  political  conference,  a  small 
ball  was  held  under  a  marquise.  Sunday  was,  of 
course,  very  quiet.  Prince  Albert,  who  was  very 
fond  of  agriculture,  took  his  guests  on  a  tour  of 
inspection  over  his  farms,  giving  to  them  ideas  of 
his  own  concerning  horticulture,  and  affording  all 
an  opportunity  to  admire  his  machines  and  latest 
improvements  in  buildings. 

On  Monday,  the  10th,  the  Emperor  and  Empress 
embarked  at  Osborne  to  return  to  Plarve.  The 
leave-taking  between  Queen  A^ictoria  and  her  guests 
was  marked  by  the  greatest  cordiality.  Before  his 
departure,  the  Emperor  invited  the  Duke  of  Cam- 
bridge to  come  and  spend  a  few  days  with  him  at 
the  camp  at  Chalons.  The  Queen,  who  was  much 
pleased  by  this  cordial  invitation  tendered  to  the 
commander-in-chief  of  the  British  ai'my,  said  to  the 
Emperor:  ''We  must  seize  every  occasion  to  show 
our  two  peoples  that  even  our  armies  can  march 
side  by  side." 

Two  days  after  tlie  departure  of  her  guests, 
Queen  Victoria,  writing  to  her  unck^,  tlie  King  of 
the  Belgians,  sunmicd  nj)  the  Oslioi'iie  interview  in 
the  following  m.'innci-:  ''The  visit  was  from  all 
points  of  view  salisfactory  and  agreeal)le.  Politi- 
cally, it  has  l)(Mm  a  gi'eat  blessing  fi'om  (Jod,  for  the 
unhappy  difficulties  in  the  Principalities  have  been 

219 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

smoothed  out  and  regulated  in  a  satisfactory  fash- 
ion. The  whole  interview  was  quiet  and  agreeable. 
Dear  Osborne  lost  nothing  of  its  familiar  and  un- 
pretentious character.  The  Emperor  spoke  frankly 
to  Albert,  and  Albert  did  likewise  with  him,  which 
is  a  great  advantage.  Lord  Palmerston  said  to  me 
on  the  last  day:  'The  Prince  can  say  many  things 
which  w^e  cannot  say. '  ' ' 

The  Queen  went  so  far  as  to  pay  a  most  flattering 
compliment  to  the  Empress,  which  need  not  be  re- 
peated here,  though,  on  account  of  its  political  bear- 
ing, I  may  be  permitted  to  make  this  further 
extract:  "Albert,  who  rarely  cares  for  ladies  or 
princesses,  likes  the  Empress  very  much ;  she  is  his 
great  ally."  This  last  phrase  it  quite  true.  On  this 
and  other  occasions,  Eugenie  did  all  in  her  power 
to  strengthen  the  English  alliance. 

On  his  return  to  France,  Napoleon  wrote  on 
August  15th  to  his  royal  hostess:  "We  left  Osborne 
so  deeply  touched  by  the  amiable  welcome  of  Your 
Majesty  and  the  Prince,  and  so  tilled  with  admira- 
tion at  the  spectacle  of  all  the  virtues  exhibited  by 
the  royal  family  of  England,  that  it  is  difficult  for 
me  to  tind  expressions  to  define  the  devoted  and 
tender  sentiments  which  we  cherish  for  Your 
Majesty.  I  think  when  one  has  passed  some  days  in 
your  intimacy,  one  must  become  a  better  being. 
Please  tell  the  Prince,  who  so  nobly  shares  your 
destiny,  that  I  have  for  him  the  highest  esteem  and 
the  truest  friendship,  which  proves  how  much  I  care 
for  him.  As  for  Your  Majesty's  children,  they  are 
all  gifted  with  such  excellent  and  charming  qualities 
that  one  has  but  to  see  them  in  order  to  love  them; 

220 


EOYAL  VISITORS 

so  it  is  only  natural  that  we  should  wish  them  all  the 
happiness  they  deserve." 

These  lines  have  been  printed  in  another  form; 
but  this  is  the  text  as  it  left  the  Emperor's  pen,  for 
he  it  was  who  wrote  this  letter  and  not  the  French 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

In  her  reply  to  the  Emperor,  the  Queen  declares 
mth  her  customary  simplicity  what  affection  she 
has  for  her  "well  beloved  husband  who  has  no  other 
ambition  than  to  do  good  and  to  make  himself  use- 
ful whenever  he  can."  The  Queen  again  compli- 
mented Eugenie.  The  compliment  may  be  given  here 
because  it  is  associated  in  these  womanly  words, 
with  that  paid  the  Prince  Consort  : 

"In  a  position  so  isolated  as  that  which  we  oc- 
cupy, we  can  have  no  greater  consolation  or  surer 
support  than  the  sympathy  and  advice  of  him  or  her 
who  is  called  to  share  our  destiny  in  life;  and  tlie 
dear  Emjjress,  with  her  generous  instincts,  is  your 
guardian  angel,  as  the  Prince  is  my  true  friend." 
These  were  the  kindly  words  which  brought  to  a 
close  this  delightful  sojourn  on  English  soil. 

In  August,  just  two  years  before,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  the  iCnglish  sovereigns  officially 
visited  the  Emperor  and  Empress.  This,  therefore, 
was  the  return  visit.  In  the  interval,  important 
events  had  occurred  in  both  countries.  In  France, 
an  heir  to  the  throne  had  been  born,  peace  willi  Kus- 
sia  signed  and  the  young  Empire  more  solidly 
established  in  every  respect.  In  P]ngland,  there  was 
a  general  weakening  of  the  Palmerston  administra- 
tion. Although  a  new  Parliament  was  chosen  a  few 
months  before  the  Emperor  and  Enif)ress  crossed 
over  to  the  Isle  of  Wight,  "the  dashing  l^rime  Min- 

221 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

ister,"  as  Napoleon  termed  him,  was  doomed  to 
defeat  and  tlie  fall  came  a  few  montlis  after  their 
return  to  France.  But  all  these  events  on  both  sides 
of  the  Channel  had  no  weakening  influence  on  the 
good  understanding  betw^een  Great  Britain  and 
France  and  several  of  them  strengthened  it.  In- 
deed, the  day  was  rapidly  approaching — it  came  in 
January,  1860 — when  the  Emperor  and  Cobden 
established  free  trade  in  France,  so  that  thence- 
forth there  was  a  commercial  as  well  as  a  political 
union  between  the  two  great  nations.  Referring  to 
this  economic  revolution,  the  Emperor  exclaimed 
one  day:  "Some  quidnuncs  declare  that  this  is  an- 
other Waterloo  for  us ;  but  they  will  live  to  see  that 
it  is  an  Austerlitz  for  both  countries."  It  may  be 
added  that  it  w^as  this  exchange  of  visits  in  1855  and 
1857  w^hich  paved  the  way  to  this  new  economic 
system. 

The  first  step  towards  a  reconciliation  between 
France  and  Russia  after  the  Crimean  w^ar  was 
taken  in  1856  when  Napoleon  sent  a  mission  of 
extraordinary  brilliancy,  headed  by  Comte  de 
Momy,  to  represent  him  at  the  coronation  of  the 
Czar  Alexander  II.  It  had  now  become  desirable 
that  an  occasion  should  be  found  for  drawing  the 
two  sovereigns  into  a  closer  union.  A  suitable  op- 
portunity presented  itself  in  the  autumn  of  1857  at 
Stuttgart,  where  the  Emperor  Alexander  was  \t sit- 
ing members  of  his  family,  and  where  Napoleon  III 
had  decided  to  return  the  visit  paid  him  the  pre- 
ceding year  by  the  King  of  AViirtombcrg,  shortly 
after  the  birth  of  the  Prince  Imperial.  The  inter- 
view, which  had  been  talked  of  for  several  months, 

222 


BOYAL  VISITORS 

was  at  length  decided  upon  for  the  end  of  Sep- 
tember. 

The  Emperor  Napoleon  had  just  passed  several 
weeks  at  Chalons,  where  particularly  interesting 
military  maneuvers  had  taken  place  on  this  cele- 
brated drilling  ground  in  the  presence  of  the  Duke 
of  Cambridge.  In  every  way  the  reception  offered 
to  the  Queen's  uncle,  commander-in-chief  of  the 
English  army,  had  been  most  cordial;  but  as  the 
Emperor  was  now  to  meet  the  Czar  of  Russia  on 
friendly  terms,  it  was  more  than  ever  necessary  to 
let  it  be  seen  that  the  English  alliance  would  in  no 
way  be  endangered  by  the  proposed  interview. 
After  events  showed  that  this  was  true,  for,  as  is 
more  than  once  pointed  out  in  these  memoirs,  from 
the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  Second  Empire,  one 
of  the  cardinal  principles  of  the  foreign  policy  of 
the  Emperor  was  friendly  relations  with  Great 
Britain,  in  whi';;h  respect  he  differed  radically  from 
his  great  uncle.  In  fact,  among  the  few  things  which 
Napoleon  III  criticized  in  the  conduct  of  the  affairs 
of  the  First  Empire  was  the  failure  of  Napoleon  I 
to  live  on  amicable  terms  with  the  English  nation. 
On  this  point,  the  Empress  held  the  same  view  as 
her  husband  and  always  did  what  she  could  to 
strengthen  the  bonds  between  France  and  *'the 
natural  ally  of  France." 

King  William  of  Wiirtemberg,  so  cordially  re- 
ceived in  Paris  during  the  month  of  April,  1856, 
was  delighted  to  have  an  opportunity  of  doing  the 
honors  of  his  capital  on  the  occasion  of  Na{)ok'oii's 
visit.  Princess  Mathildc,  grand-daughter  of  King 
Frederick  of  Wiirtemberg,  had  gone  to  Stuttgart 
the   preceding  year   to   offer   birthday   congratula- 

223 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

tions  to  lier  uncle,  King  William,  and  she  had  been 
much  appreciated  and  sought  after;  moreover, 
Queen  Sophie  of  HoUand,  daughter  of  the  King  of 
Wiirtemberg,  had  always  shown  a  strong  friendship 
for  Napoleon  III.  On  the  other  hand,  Alexander  II 
was  a  very  near  relation  of  the  royal  family;  his 
father,  Nicholas  II,  having  been  the  son  of  a  princess 
of  Wiirtemberg,  a  w^oman  of  great  intellectual 
power,  who  had  been  known  at  the  court  of  Marie 
Antoinette  as  the  Comtesse  du  Nord;  while  the 
prince  royal  of  Wiirtemberg,  bom  of  the  second 
marriage  of  his  father,  was  married  to  the  Grand 
Duchess  Olga.  These  numerous  alliances  between 
the  houses  of  Russia  and  AViirtemberg  had  been 
strengthened  by  frequent  friendly  meetings  and 
exchanges  of  amicable  sentiments,  so  that  the  Em- 
peror Napoleon  when  at  Stuttgart  found  himself 
one  of  a  genial  family  party.  Nor  is  it  too  much  to 
say  that  he  was  loved  and  honored  in  that  circle 
where  he  exercised  a  good  and  wise  influence. 

This  meeting  of  the  Emperors  was  viewed  with 
friendly  eyes  by  the  whole  of  Germany,  excepting 
perhaps  the  Austrian  states,  so  that  the  journey 
from  Strasbourg  to  Stuttgart  was  one  long  and 
enthusiastic  ovation.  It  offered,  by  the  way,  a  good 
example  of  Napoleon's  habit,  in  the  early  years  of 
his  reign,  of  conducting,  so  far  as  possible,  the 
foreign  atfairs  of  France  by  direct  intercourse  be- 
tween himself  and  foreign  sovereigns,  supported  by 
their  ministers  of  foreign  affairs.  Napoleon  III 
never  liked  to  delegate  diplomatic  business.  He  had 
traveled  widely,  had  had  extensive  experience  with 
men  of  different  nations,  and  he  naturally  felt  that 
he  could  handle  with  success  delicate  international 

224 


ROYAL  VISITORS 

matters.  The  diplomacy  of  the  Second  Empire 
would  have  fewer  mistakes  to  record  if  Napoleon 
could  always  have  pursued  this  wise  plan. 

The  Emperor  started  from  Chalons,  reviewed  the 
cavalry  divisions  at  Luneville  on  the  Lorraine 
frontier  on  September  24th  and  arrived  at  Stras- 
bourg at  three  o'clock  on  that  afternoon,  accom- 
panied by  Generals  Failly  and  Fleury,  his  aides  de 
camp,  and  Prince  Joachim  Murat,  his  orderly  offi- 
cer. The  reception  was  magnificent;  flowers  were 
strewn  before  the  sovereign,  triumphal  arches  had 
been  erected,  and  all  the  houses  were  hung  with  gar- 
lands and  profusely  decorated.  The  Emperor  had 
mounted  on  leaving  the  station,  and  before  going 
to  the  prefecture  where  he  was  to  sleep,  he  reviewed 
the  town  di\'ision  on  the  Place  Kleber. 

This  popular  reception,  one  of  the  countless  simi- 
lar ovations  which  occurred  throughout  the  reign, 
well  illustrates  the  powerful  hold  which  the  Bona- 
parte family  has  always  had  on  France,  and  makes 
one  regret  that  a  turbulent  minority  could  not  bring 
themselves  to  join  with  the  people  and  thus  bring 
about  a  real  "era  of  good  feeling,"  which  would 
have  united  the  whole  nation  under  one  head,  and 
prevented  the  future  disasters  which  fell  upon  the 
country. 

Frederick  William  Louis,  son-in-law  of  the 
Prince  of  Prussia  and  Grand  Duke  of  P>aden,  ar- 
rived that  evening  at  Baden.  He  had  been  the  Em- 
peror's guest  in  1855,  and,  consequently,  was  de- 
sirous of  welcoming  Napoleon  cordially.  He  wished 
the  Emperor  to  stop,  if  only  for  a  few  hours,  with 
him  at  Alanheim  oi-  at  Baden,  and  in  tlie  end  ob- 
tained Napoleon's  consent  to  lunch  with  him  in  the 


MEMOIES  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

latter  town.  Here  is  another  example  of  the  very 
cordial  relations  which  at  this  epoch  united  France 
and  Germany  and  which  would  have  continued  to 
the  end  if  Napoleon  could  have  had  his  way. 

Leaving  Strasbourg,  therefore,  at  eight  o'clock, 
the  Emperor  crossed  Kelil,  which  was  profusely 
decorated  with  French  and  Baden  flags,  and  arrived 
at  ten  o'clock  at  the  station  of  Baden,  where  he  was 
received  by  the  Grand  Duke,  Grand  Duchess 
Stephanie  and  the  Prince  of  Prussia.  He  lunched 
with  the  Grand  Duke's  family  and  the  future  king 
of  Prussia,  Kaiser  AVillielm.  When  leaving  the  pal- 
ace, the  Grand  Duke  showed  the  Emperor  a  com- 
pany of  the  guards  who  still  retained  the  flag  they 
had  carried  under  the  First  Empire,  when  the 
Baden  soldiers  were  the  comrades  in  arms  of  the 
French,  another  striking  example  of  the  friendly 
relations  which  then  prevailed. 

Leaving  Baden  at  half  past  one,  the  Emperor  was 
convinced  by  what  he  saw  and  heard,  both  in  the 
little  watering  town  then  so  fashionable  and  along 
the  whole  length  of  the  road  to  Stuttgart,  of  the 
great  popularity  with  which  his  visit  was  regarded 
in  the  German  states;  for  everywhere  he  was 
greeted  with  real  enthusiasm. 

At  Eastatt  he  was  visited  by  two  princes  from 
Baden  who  came  to  pay  their  respects;  tlie  Grand 
Duke  and  the  Prince  of  Prussia  accompanied  him  to 
Carlsruhe;  while  the  Grand  Duchess  Stephanie  was 
still  more  attentive  and  did  not  stop  until  they 
reached  Bruchsal,  the  X)oint  of  junction  between  the 
railways  of  Wiirtemberg  and  Baden,  where  the  Em- 
peror found  General  Baur,  King  William's  envoy, 
awaiting  him. 

226 


EOYAL  VISITORS 

At  Stuttgart  tlie  King  and  Princes  of  the  royal 
family  greeted  the  Emperor  at  the  station  and  con- 
ducted him  to  the  palace  where  Alexander  II,  who 
had  arrived,  without  the  Empress,  the  day  before, 
and  who  was  staying  with  his  brother-in-law,  the 
Prince  Royal,  at  two  kilometers  from  the  town, 
came  to  pay  him  a  visit.  Having  dined  with  the 
King  and  Queen,  the  Emperor  went  to  spend  the 
rest  of  the  evening  with  the  Prince  Royal,  where  he 
met  the  Czar  again.  The  grand  avenue  leading  to 
the  villa  was  brilliantly  lighted.  All  the  ministers, 
the  whole  diplomatic  corps  and  the  high  Court  offi- 
cials were  with  the  Prince  Royal  to  pay  their  re- 
spects to  the  ruler  of  France. 

The  Czar  had  with  him  Prince  Gortchakoff,  Min- 
ister of  Foreign  Affairs,  and  the  Emperor  was  ac- 
companied by  Count  Walewski,  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  Comte  de  Rayneval,  then  ambassador  to 
St.  Petersburg,  Prince  Joachin  Murat,  and  Gen- 
erals Fleury  and  de  Failly.  At  eleven  o'clock  the 
Emperor  returned  to  Stuttgart  with  the  King  and 
Queen,  while  the  Czar  remained  with  his  brother-in- 
law.  This  coming  and  going  well  illustrates  the 
activity  of  the  crowned  heads  of  those  days,  when 
parliaments  w^ere  secondary. 

On  the  morning  of  the  following  day.  Napoleon 
III  paid  a  less  formal  visit  to  the  E]mporor  Alex- 
ander 11.  At  eleven  o'clock  the  King  of  AViirtem- 
berg  came  to  fetch  him  and  took  him  round  the 
royal  stables,  where  he  kept  at  his  own  expense 
three  hundred  thoroughbreds.  During  this  visit  to 
the  stables,  Xapoleon  confined  his  conversation  to 
sporting  matters,  and  the  King  afterwards  re- 
marked that  "if  the  Emperor  of  the  French  is  as 

227 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

strong  in  politics  as  he  is  in  horses,  Europe  will  be 
surprised  one  of  these  days."  Indeed,  such  was  the 
case,  for  Napoleon's  power  in  the  international  re- 
lations of  Europe  went  on  growing  firmer  and 
bolder  until  the  Tuileries  became  the  very  center 
the  Old  World's  diplomacy. 

During  the  day,  after  conferring  with  Count 
Walewski,  the  Emperor  paid  a  visit  to  the  Queen 
and  remained  a  long  while  with  Queen  Sophie  of  the 
Netherlands.  The  latter  was  a  firm  partisan  of  the 
close  alliance  with  England  and  determined  to  do 
all  in  her  power,  while  not  striving  to  prevent  Napo- 
leon from  entering  into  friendly  relations  with  the 
Czar,  not  to  let  him  sacrifice  what  she  called  ''the 
reality  of  the  English  alliance  for  the  semblance  of 
a  Russian  agreement." 

How  often  had  the  Empress  spoken  of  this  with 
the  Emperor.  Napoleon  III  had  certainly  no  desire 
to  abandon  the  prey  for  its  shadow;  but  it  is  clear 
that  from  the  very  first  meeting  with  the  Czar,  he 
felt  strangely  attracted  by  the  Russian  emperor. 
He  was  eager  to  make  him  his  political  friend  and 
wished  to  gain  the  Czar's  acquiescence  in  his  own 
plans  in  view  of  the  possibility  of  difiiculties  arising 
between  Austria  and  Italy. 

It  has  often  been  asked,  especially  at  the  time  of 
the  recent  alliance  of  France  with  Russia,  whether 
it  would  not  have  been  opportune  simply  to  "over- 
look" the  English  alliance,  whose  principal  fruit 
had  been  a  war  chiefly  beneficial  to  England,  and  to 
unite  closely  with  Russia.  To  do  so  would  have  been 
going  to  work  very  rapidly,  trampling  willfully  on 
promises  made  and  putting  oneself  in  a  bad  position 
altogether.  If  the  Empress  had  been  present  on  this 

228 


ROYAL  VISITORS 

occasion,  she  would  undoubtedly  have  urged  the  Em- 
peror to  remain  faithful  to  his  first  alliance.  Eu- 
genie was  really  fond  of  Queen  Victoria,  whose  af- 
fectionate interest  had  been  so  precious  to  her  at  the 
beginning  of  her  career  as  a  sovereign.  Perhaps, 
also,  she  then  nourished  a  little  feeling  of  bitterness 
against  Russia.  When  that  Power  sought  to  draw 
into  closer  union  with  France,  was  it  not  in  reality 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  the  suppression,  in  the 
treaty  of  Paris,  of  an  article  which  caused  Russia 
some  embarrassment,  the  one  relating  to  the  pro- 
hibition of  fleets  in  the  Black  Sea?  Had  France 
given  way  on  that  chief  point,  the  result  would  with- 
out doubt  have  been  a  very  close  alliance  with  Rus- 
sia, but  it  would  have  entailed  also  a  rupture  with 
England  who  would  never  have  consented — the 
question  of  the  Bosphorus  being  all  important  for 
her — to  ratify  such  an  arrangement. 

These  and  many  other  considerations,  which  can 
only  be  understood  by  watching  the  course  of  after 
events,  were  the  object  of  many  discussions  not 
only  between  the  sovereigns  and  their  ministers, 
during  this  important  visit,  but  between  the  aides 
de  camp  admitted  to  tlie  confidence  of  one  or  other 
of  the  sovereigns,  both  in  the  Czar's  apartments,  in 
those  of  Queen  Sophia,  or  in  those  of  Napoleon  III. 

Alexander  II,  much  pleased  by  Napoleon's  cordi- 
ality, determined  to  send  for  the  Empress,  his  wife, 
who  was  in  the  neighborhood.  The  pretext  given 
for  her  absence  had  been  that  Eugenie  had  not  come 
with  her  husband.  It  is  difficult  to  understand  the 
real  motive  for  such  liositation,  or  such  calculation. 
If  it  had  been  desired  that  Eugenie  should  come, 
why  had  this  desire  not  been  made  known  in  proper 

229 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

time?  She  would  have  consented,  of  course.  But 
the  ground  was  being  tried  on  either  side  with  great 
care,  and  neither  of  the  adversaries  of  yesterday, 
entering  now  on  a  period  of  mutual  coquetting, 
w^anted  to  make  too  many  advances,  or  afford  too 
much  room  for  untow^ard  interpretations.  Mean- 
while, Austria  was  evidently  anxious  concerning  all 
these  princely  doings  in  which  she  felt  that,  without 
being  consulted,  much  interest  was  taken  in  her 
future  by  the  erstwhile  enemies. 

The  Empress  of  Russia  reached  Stuttgart  on  the 
2Cth,  accompanied  by  Queen  Amelia  of  Greece, 
daughter  of  Grand  Duke  Paul  Frederick  of  Olden- 
berg  and  wdfe  of  King  Otho.  This  was  the  signal 
for  a  renewal  of  social  festivities.  The  Emperor 
immediately  went  to  the  Prince  Royal's  villa  in 
order  to  pay  his  respects  to  the  Czarina,  leaving  for 
that  purpose  the  castle  of  Wallielma,  in  the  valley 
of  the  Necker,  where  a  most  splendid  fete  had  been 
given  that  evening  in  his  honor. 

Nor  was  this  the  end  of  the  social  activities.  On 
the  occasion  of  the  King's  birthday,  September 
27th,  there  was  a  gala  reception,  after  mass,  and 
the  Emperor  was  much  cheered  on  leaving  the 
church.  The  reception  was  followed  by  a  popular 
festival,  a  kind  of  agrarian  fete,  which  had  been  ar- 
ranged by  King  William,  and  the  evening  ended  by 
a  grand  dinner  and  fireworks  display. 

In  the  midst  of  all  these  parties,  politics  were  not 
lost  sight  of.  In  fact,  these  balls  and  feastings  were 
really  used  to  conceal  the  more  serious  business 
which  was  being  transacted  late  in  the  night  and  in 
the  quiet  morning  hours.  The  Emperor  was  a  hard 
worker,  whether  the  work  came  in  the  form  of 

230 


EOYAL  VISITORS 

waltzing  and  conversing  in  a  ball-room,  or  in  the 
form  of  complicated  political  discussion  in  the  cab- 
inet. During  this  important  visit,  his  time  was 
equally  divided  between  these  two  occupations. 

On  this  day,  the  27th,  the  Czar  and  Emperor 
breakfasted  with  the  Prince  Royal,  but  privately, 
without  the  King,  the  Court,  or  any  of  the  suite. 
They  spoke  together  long  and  freely.  It  was  on  that 
day — the  anniversary  of  Erfurt ,  when  Napoleon 
and  Alexander  met  in  1808  and  offered  peace  to 
England — that  the  chief  lines  of  the  friendly  agree- 
ment which  the  chancellors  of  their  respective  coun- 
tries had  studied  and  drafted,  were  decided  upon. 
The  sovereigns  parted  the  best  of  friends.  The  first 
steps  had  been  slow  and  had  consisted  in  ordinary 
manifestations  of  courtesy.  Attracted  though  they 
certainly  were,  one  to  the  other,  the  two  Emperors 
were  not  quick  in  making  friends. 

The  result  of  these  conversations  and  meetings  at 
Stuttgart  was  a  friendly  agreement  between  the 
two  sovereigns  not  to  take  any  important  step, 
without  first  consulting  together,  either  in  regard  to 
the  Eastern  question  or  Italy  if  some  day  or  another 
a  difference  should  arise  between  France  and  Aus- 
tria. In  such  a  case,  Russia  promised  her  sympa- 
thetic neutrality  and  agreed,  but  without  binding 
herself  formally,  to  concentrate  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  men  on  the  frontiers  of  Galicia 
should  the  two  above-mentioned  powers  really  come 
to  open  hostilities.  AVas  the  question  of  a  mutual 
alliance  settled?  Perhaps  not;  but  at  any  rate  it 
was  broached. 

The  sovereiftTis  now  exchanged  farewells,  the 
Czar   leaving   tlie    same    day,   while    the    Emperor 

231 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

started  on  the  morrow.  The  Emperor  attenuated  the 
effects  of  the  visit  by  meeting  at  Weimar,  two  days 
later,  the  Emperor  of  Austria.  But  it  was  noticed 
that,  in  spite  of  all  outward  appearances  of  cordi- 
ality, the  two  sovereigns  seemed  somewhat  embar- 
rassed. 

France  was  destined  to  reap  much  real  advantage 
from  this  Stuttgart  interview,  when  the  Syrian 
troubles  broke  out,  in  1860,  and  the  French  and 
English  governments  were  forced  to  an  armed  in- 
tervention in  order  to  check  at  Damascus  the  mas- 
sacre of  Christians  by  Mohomedans.  Had  it  not 
been  for  the  unfortunate  events  in  Poland,  when 
France  considered  it  her  duty  to  intervene  in  1863, 
which  naturally  displeased  Russia,  who  can  say 
whether  the  alliance  would  not  have  become  strong 
and  lasting?  But  however  this  may  be,  this  early 
effort  of  Napoleon  III  to  bring  France  and  Russia 
together  was  based  on  wise  calculations  and  always 
had  the  Empress'  warm  support,  for  who  could  not 
see  that,  with  England  and  Russia  friends  of  the 
Tuileries,  the  Second  Empire  stood  in  an  exceed- 
ingly strong  position? 


CHAPTER  X 

SOME   OFFICIAL    JOURNEYS 

The  year  1858  was  a  rather  stormy  period  in  the 
history  of  the  Second  Empire.  Though  the  coun- 
try was  not  disturbed  by  war  during  that  twelve- 
month, it  was  a  year  that  lay  between  two  wars — 
that  with  Russia,  from  the  effects  of  which  France 
had  only  just  recovered,  and  that  with  Austria,  for 
the  unity  of  Italy,  which  was  about  to  begin.  It  was 
during  these  intervals  of  comparative  calm  that  the 
Emperor  used  to  seize  the  occasion  to  strengthen 
himself  both  at  home  and  abroad.  "I  always  think 
of  your  excellent  English  adage,"  he  casually  re- 
marked one  evening  to  the  British  ambassador  dur- 
ing a  diplomatic  reception  at  the  Tuileries  at  this 
epoch,  ''  'make  hay  when  the  sun  shines.'  I  should 
prefer  to  make  it  all  the  time.  But  the  sun  will  not 
always  shine."  Knowing  that  his  influence  abroad 
was  based  on  his  popularity  at  home,  he  felt  that 
good  domestic  politics  was  the  basis  of  good  foreign 
policies.  So  he  always  liked  to  combine  them.  Thus, 
when  the  Emperor  was  to  have  a  formal  meeting 
with  a  sovereign,  he  generally  arranged  the  event 
so  that  he,  sometimes  with  the  Empress,  visited 
some  of  the  French  provinces,  either  before  or  after 
the  royal  interview.  If  lie  thought  that  the  aims  he 
had  in  mind  would  be  best  promoted  by  coming  to 
the  foreign  crowned  head  fresh  from  the  applause 

233 


ME^^IOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

of  tlio  French  populace,  then  the  Emperor  would  go 
to  the  provinces  tirst.  But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  it 
appeared  to  him  wiser  to  see  the  ruler  first,  then  his 
0A\n  subjects  were  received  afterwards.  The  official 
vivsits  of  the  summer  of  1858  will  illustrate  this  cus- 
tom, and  are  consequently  given  here  in  some  detail. 

Marshal  Pelissier,  Duke  of  Malakoff,  French  am- 
bassador at  London,  had  been  informed  as  early  as 
June  10,  1858,  of  the  intended  visit  of  the  Emperor 
and  the  Empress  to  Cherbourg,  on  August  4th,  and 
it  was  then  arranged  that  they  would  be  joined,  on 
the  5th,  by  the  Queen  of  England  and  the  Prince 
Consort.  This  meeting  was  felt  to  be  full  of  signifi- 
cance, coming  as  it  did  so  shortly  after  the  Orsini 
affair  and  the  Colonels'  protests,  concerning  that 
sad  event.  It  will  be  remembered  that  French  pub- 
lic opinion  and  military  circles  were  severe  on  Eng- 
land, which  was  undeservedly  held  responsible  for 
these  attempts  at  political  murder.  The  Duke  of 
Malakoff  had  shown  great  cleverness  in  obtaining 
from  the  Queen  such  a  prompt  acceptance  of  the 
invitation  tendered  by  the  Emperor;  and  his  sov- 
ereigns thanked  him  by  letter  and  by  word  of  mouth 
for  his  success. 

Queen  Victoria  and  Prince  Albert  left  Osborne  on 
Aug-ust  4th,  at  mid-day,  on  the  royal  yacht,  Victoria 
and  Albert.  An  imposing  royal  squadron  had  left 
the  port  some  hours  earlier  and  was  to  surround  the 
yacht  on  its  arrival  off  the  harbor  of  Cherbourg. 
At  five  o'clock  on  the  same  day  the  Emperor  and 
the  Empress  reached  Cherbourg.  The  principal  offi- 
cials of  the  town  were  presented  by  the  mayor,  and 
the  bishop,  surrounded  by  his  clerg\^,  chanted  a  Te 
Deum.    A  great  number  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 

234 


SOME  OFFICIAL  JOUENEYS 

town  enthusiastically  greeted  the  royal  visitors  and 
followed  us  into  the  city.  ^'I  see  that  all  will  go 
well,"  remarked  the  Emperor  to  the  Empress,  as 
they  were  driving  through  the  streets;  "when  the 
municipality,  the  church,  and  the  people  unite  in 
acclaiming  us,  I  always  feel  that  success  is  to  fol- 
low us  all  along  the  line. ' ' 

The  Queen's  arrival  was  announced  about  seven 
o'clock.  Shortly  afterwards  the  Emperor  and  the 
Empress  went  out  to  meet  her  in  a  white  canoe  with 
a  velvet  awning,  on  which  was  embroidered  a  golden 
eagle.  Prince  Albert  awaited  them  at  the  foot  of  the 
yacht's  staircase,  at  the  side  of  the  vessel,  the 
Queen  being  at  the  top.  The  Emperor  mounted  the 
steps  first,  followed  by  the  Empress,  "who  was 
wearing  a  white  and  mauve  silk  dress,  with  a  hat 
trimmed  with  black  and  vvdiite  lace,"  reports  one  of 
the  chroniclers  of  the  time.  The  Queen  kissed  both 
of  them.  "I  do  not  say  much,  but  I  feci  much,"  she 
said  very  warmly,  as  she  embraced  Eugenie. 
Marshal  Pelissier  was  on  the  Queen's  yacht.  "The 
gallant  general  knows  what  we  all  think  of  Your 
Majesties,"  remai'ked  Victoria  as  the  aml)assador 
advanced.  "These  ladies  and  gentlemen  share  our 
affection  for  Your  Majesties,"  the  Empress  ([uickly 
responded,  on  presenting  the  suite.  A  fii'st  inter- 
view then  took  jjlace  between  the  Emperor  ;uid 
Queen,  the  conversation  turning  immediately  to 
political  topics.  "I  cannot  tell  Yonr  Majesty,"  l)e- 
gan  the  Emperor,  "how  we  all  r(\u'ret  those  liasty 
Colonels'  S])eecli<'S,  how  we  deplore  Ihc  clouds 
which  have  arisen  for  a  iiionnmt,  between  the  two 
great  nations,  but  which  at  lengtli  are  happily  clear- 
ing away."   At  a  latei-  date  the  l*]niperor  said  to  the 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

Empress:  *'It  was  evident  that  the  Queen  was 
favorably  inclined  towards  France;  Prince  Albert, 
however,  seemed  openly  hostile;  this  it  was  easy 
to  gather  by  reading  between  the  lines  of  all  he 
said."  The  same  fact,  indeed,  is  openly  stated  in 
the  Queen's  Diary  and  in  Sir  Theodore  Martin's 
liook. 

On  the  Thursday,  at  noon,  the  Queen  and  Prince 
Albert  returned  the  Emperor's  visit,  driving  to  the 
marine  prefecture  for  that  purpose.  The  Emperor 
has  written  in  a  private  note:  ''The  conversation  of 
the  preceding  day  was  once  more  resumed  at  the 
luncheon,  which  was  somewhat  formal.  To  the 
Queen's  questions  the  Empress  replied  by  a  de- 
tailed relation  of  Orsini's  treacherous  attempt  on 
my  life,  dwelling  specially  on  the  harm  done  on 
that  occasion  by  the  press  on  both  sides  of  the 
Channel.  When  will  the  newspapers  leave  foreign 
affairs  to  the  diplomatists?" 

One  of  the  members  of  Eugenie's  suite  on  that 
occasion  gives  this  unedited  account  of  some  of  the 
events  of  the  day:  "The  reception  after  luncheon 
was  attended  by  all  the  ministers  who  had  come 
on  the  journey,  as  well  as  the  members  of  the  mili- 
tary and  civil  households  on  duty.  Count  Walewski, 
Countess  Walewska,  and  a  very  handsome  Spanish 
lady.  Mile.  Sophie  Yalera  de  la  Paniega,  who  is  a 
cousin  of  the  Empress.  The  Duke  of  Malakoff 
found  this  lady  charming  and  paid  her  marked 
attention.  At  the  end  of  a  few  weeks,  during  which 
time  he  sent  verses  and  pretty  notes  to  her,  the  gal- 
lant officer  asked  for  her  hand  and  some  weeks  later 
she  became  Duchess  of  Malakoif !  In  the  evening,  a 
state  banquet  was  held  on  board  the  Bretagne.   The 

236 


SOME  OFFICIAL  JOURNEYS 

Queen,  who  was  very  gracious  to  everybody,  was 
seated  between  the  Emperor  and  the  Duke  of  Cam- 
bridge, while  Prince  Albert  w^as  between  the  Em- 
press and  Comtesse  de  la  Bedoyere.  An  excellent 
band  played  during  the  dinner.  x\t  the  end  of  the 
repast,  the  Emperor  rose  to  propose  a  toast  to  the 
Queen  and  Royal  Family.  I  carefully  noted  what 
he  said:  'I  am  hai:»py,'  he  began  with  considerable 
feeling,  'to  bear  testimony  to  our  friendly  sympa- 
thy for  England  and  her  rulers;  to-day's  events 
speak  for  themselves  and  prove  that  hostile  pas- 
sions, aided  by  some  unfortunate  incidents,  have 
been  unable  to  weaken  the  friendship  existing  be- 
tween the  two  nations,  or  modify  the  mutual  desire 
to  remain  at  peace.  It  is  my  firm  belief  that  if  any 
attempt  were  made  to  awaken  ill-feeling  and  the 
hatred  of  by-gone  days,  such  efforts  would  prove 
unavailing  and  sink  into  nothingness  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  public  good-sense,  as  the  waves  are 
thrown  back  by  the  jetty  which  now  protects  the 
squadrons  of  two  empires  from  the  fury  of  the 
sea.'  The  Emperor's  w^ords,  which  were  given  in 
excellent  style,  produced  a  good  impression,  as  is 
usually  the  case  when  he  speaks. 

''Prince  Albert  rose  in  his  turn  and  thanked  tlie 
Emperor  for  his  friendly  words.  He  then  spoke  of 
the  increasing  goodwill  between  tlie  two  nations. 
'That  friendship,'  said  the  Prince,  in  closing,  'is  the 
foundation  of  their  mutual  prosperity,  and  Heav- 
en's blessing  will  not  fail  them.  The  Queen  pro- 
poses tlie  health  of  the  Emperor  and  Empress.' 
Victoria  led  hi  tin;  applause  which  gi'eeted  the 
Prince  as  he  sat  down.  Princi;  Albert  appeared 
much  moved  and  was  evidently  in  a  hurry  to  finish 

237 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

his  remarks.  Tlie  Queen  was  not  less  moved.  The 
Emperor  also  showed  considerable  emotion,  which 
was  plainly  shared  by  the  Empress.  It  was  an 
anxious  moment,  and  the  Empress  appreciated  how 
embarrassed  the  Prince  Consort  was.  The  Queen 
admitted  that  her  throat  was  so  contracted  that  she 
could  scarcely  swallow  her  coffee.  But  the  ice  was 
broken  and  the  political  results  seemed  to  promise 
good  things. 

''There  was  a  grand  illumination  of  the  boats  in 
the  harbor;  it  was  a  fairylike  and  long-to-be- 
remembered  sight.  The  sovereigns  of  France  and 
their  guests  watched  the  fire-works  from  the  upper 
deck  of  the  Bretagne.  This  was  followed  by  part 
songs  rendered  from  a  boat  by  the  Saint  Cecil  Glee 
Club  of  Cherbourg,  while  the  band  played  on  board 
the  Bretagne.  Then,  in  the  midst  of  hearty  cheers., 
and  passing  through  the  illuminated  vessels,  the 
Queen  and  Prince  Consort  returned  to  their  yacht. 
The  Emperor  and  Empress  were  very  proud  of  the 
fine  way  in  which  the  whole  ceremony  had  been 
conducted  by  those  who  had  it  in  charge.  And  well 
they  may  be,  for  both  the  Prince  and  Victoria  pro- 
nounced it  'perfect,'  several  times. 

"The  following  morning  the  Emperor  and  Em- 
press went  to  the  yacht  to  bid  farewell  to  their  royal 
guests.  The  leave-takings  were  most  cordial.  The 
Queen  had  fully  comprehended  the  sincerity  of  the 
welcome  extended  to  her  by  the  French  sovereigns. 
'The  bonds  between  us  are  tightened  as  never  be- 
fore,' she  said.  'The  cloud  created  by  the  Colonels 
has  evidently  cleared  away,'  replied  the  Emperor. 
But  the  shadow  caused  by  the  Plombieres  interview 
between  Cavour  and  the  Emperor  still  remained." 

238 


SOME  OFFICIAL  JOURNEYS 

Prince  Albert,  however,  continued  to  feel  a  cer- 
tain degree  of  apprehension.  A  few  days  later  he 
wrote  to  the  Duchess  of  Kent:  ''The  Emperor  was 
absent-minded  and  sad.  The  Empress  appeared 
unwell.  The  preparations  of  the  French  navy  are 
enormous ;  ours  are  pitiful.  Our  ministers  make  fine 
speeches,  but  do  not  act;  my  blood  boils  when  I 
think  of  it.  There  is  restlessness  and  embarrass- 
ment. An  unknown  and  darkened  horizon — such  is 
the  entente  cordiale.  Much  anxiety  is  felt  in  Eng- 
land concerning  the  Emperor's  plans." 

A  long  time  afterwards  the  Emperor  said  in  a 
private  conversation  of  which  this  note  was  made 
immediately  afterwards:  ''If  the  Prince  Consort 
had  entered  into  the  Franco-English  good  under- 
standing with  the  same  frankness  and  genuineness 
that  Queen  Victoria  did,  the  bonds  between  the  two 
countries  would  have  been  stronger.  I  do  not  refer 
to  the  official  bonds  between  tlie  two  courts  and  the 
two  cabinets.  They  wore  always  strong.  But  there 
was  ever  a  certain  hesitancy  on  the  part  of  the  two 
peoples  to  follow  honestly  the  lead  set  by  the  two 
governments.  The  minds  of  the  common  people  on 
both  sides  of  the  Channel  remained  almost  un- 
changed. Waterloo  and  Napoleon,  the  wars  and  the 
victories  on  land  and  sea,  tiie  polemics  of  the  press 
— all  these  things  were  still  remembered  and  the 
lower  classes  did  not  seem  disposed  to  forget  them. 
Though  the  more  educated  strata  and  the  nobility 
in  both  countries  were  broader  minded  in  this 
respect,  still  the  'era  of  good  feeling'  cannot  be  said 
to  have  dawned  on  Franco  and  England  in  the 
fifties." 

There   were    other   reasons    for   the   journey   to 

239 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

Cherbourg  besides  the  much  desired  reconciliation 
with  England.  On  August  7th  the  Emperor  was  to 
inaugurate  the  new  dock,  which  had  been  con- 
structed in  the  arsenal  of  that  town,  and  on  Sunday, 
the  8th,  he  was  also  to  unveil  the  statue  of  Napoleon 
I.  Anything  connected  with  his  uncle  was,  of 
course,  always  near  the  heart  of  Napoleon  III. 
"This  event  alone,"  he  said  to  the  Empress,  as 
he  w^as  leaving  Paris,  *' would  have  decided  me  to 
go  to  Cherbourg;  in  honoring  the  Great  Emperor, 
we  are  putting  a  new  stone  in  the  foundation  of  the 
Second  Empire." 

The  acting  private  secretaiw  to  the  Emperor  has 
written  out  these  notes  on  this  part  of  the  journey: 
"An  enomious  crowd  had  rushed  to  Cherbourg  for 
these  ceremonies  and  the  weather  w^as  magnificent 
— 'just  w^hat  I  had  hoped  for,'  remarked  the  Em- 
press. After  their  farewell  to  the  Queen,  the  Em- 
peror and  Empress  lunched  on  the  Bretagne,  and 
then  visited  successively  the  ships  of  the  squadron 
which  were  riding  at  anchor  in  the  harbor,  all 
beautifully  decked  out  with  innumerable  flags.  The 
Emperor  distributed  medals  and  decorations  to  the 
officers  and  sailors  who  were  presented  to  him  by 
Admiral  Hamelin.  'I  trust  that  greater  honors 
await  you  in  the  future,'  he  said  to  each  recipient, 
giving  special  attention  to  the  sailors.  'The  humble 
always  have  a  claim  on  us  for  particular  attention,' 
he  said  privately  that  evening. 

"A  state  dinner  at  the  maritime  prefecture  was 
one  of  the  chief  events  of  the  visit.  The  Emperor 
was  in  good  spirits  and  conversed  freely  with  all 
those  near  him,  saying  much  about  Franco-English 
relations.    *It  is  the  duty  of  every  Frenchman  who 

240 


SOME  OFFICIAL  JOURNEYS 

loves  his  native  land  to  cultivate  a  good  understand- 
ing with  Great  Britain.  There  are  in  favor  of  this 
thesis  strong  geographical,  political  and  commer- 
cial reasons.'    Such  were  some  of  his  words. 

''The  inauguration  of  the  new  dock  constructed 
ill  the  militaiy  port  was  a  grand  ceremony.  The 
Emperor  and  Empress  were  present  in  great  pomp, 
passing  under  a  triumphal  arch  erected  exclusively 
of  objects  taken  from  the  naval  store-houses.  They 
afterwards  visited  in  detail  all  the  work-shops, 
:.tore-rooms,  rheds  and  the  armory,  which  con- 
tained more  than  fifty  thousand  weapons  artistical- 
ly arranged  so  as  to  represent  archways,  palm- 
trees,  chandeliers,  and  various  geometrical  figures. 
'  You  marine  officers  seem  to  he  veritable  landscape- 
gardeners,'  remarked  the  Emperor  with  a  smile. 

"xVt  high  tide,  at  six  in  the  evening,  the  Emperor 
gave  the  order  to  cut  the  last  cables  which  held  to 
the  docks  the  Ville  de  Nantes,  a  man-of-war  of 
ninety  cannons  and  nine  thousand  horse-power,  and 
in  the  presence  of  over  one  hundred  thousand  spec- 
tators, who  loudly  acclaimed  the  sovereign,  the 
magnificent  vessel  cut  its  first  path  through  tlie 
water.  'Of  course,  the  main  military  strength  of  a 
nation  must  be  its  army,'  remarkerl  the  Emperor  to 
the  commanding  admiral,  who  was  standing  near 
by,  'but  I  have  always  recognized  the  fact  that  the 
navy  is  a  most  valuable  support  to  the  other  arm  of 
the  service.  It  has  always  seemed  to  me  that  the 
great  Napoleon  gave  too  little  attention  to  the  navy. 
But  he  was  so  much  absorbed  in  the  army,  that  he 
had  but  little  time  to  think  of  his  sailors  and  their 
ships.' 

"The  next  morning,  after  mass,  it  being  Sunday, 

241 


MEMOIES  OF  THE  EMPEESS  EUGENIE 

the  Emperor  and  Empress  went  to  the  Place  Na- 
poleon, where  the  equestrian  statue  of  the  great 
Emperor  was  to  be  unveiled  by  his  nephew.  The 
Emperor  responded  to  the  mayor's  patriotic  re- 
marks by  an  admirable  speech.  I  noted  down  these 
phrases:  'Let  us  iirst  of  all  render  homage  to  the 
memory  of  Napoleon,  who  was  inspired  to  create 
the  gigantic  works  now  being  terminated.  While 
rendering  full  justice  to  the  Emperor,  we  should  not 
forget  the  persevering  eiforts  of  the  governments 
which  preceded  and  which  followed  him.  The  first 
thought  of  the  creation  of  the  port  of  Cherbourg 
came,  as  you  know,  from  him  who  created  all  our 
military  ports  and  strongholds — Louis  XIV,  sec- 
onded by  the  genius  of  Vauban ;  but  it  should  not  be 
forgotten  that  Louis  XVI  actively  carried  on  the 
work  which  had  been  begun.  The  head  of  my  family 
gave  a  fresh  impulse  to  these  labors,  and  since  his 
time  every  government  has  considered  it  a  duty  to 
follow  in  his  steps.'  " 

These  words  uttered  by  the  Emperor  in  praise  of 
the  French  kings  made  a  most  happy  impression. 
As  has  been  before  remarked,  Napoleon  III  rarely 
failed  to  seize  such  occasions  for  paying  deserved 
homage  to  the  oh''  monarchy.  It  well  exemplifies  the 
lofty  generosity  of  his  character.  It  may  be  noted 
that  his  examyjle  in  this  connection  has  not  been 
generally  followed  by  the  governments  that  suc- 
ceeded his.  The  Republic  is  not  prone  to  admire 
anything  which  was  done  before  its  time. 

The  person  who  has  already  been  quoted  con- 
tinues his  account  in  these  words:  "Towards  the 
close  of  his  speech  the  Emperor  grew  very  pacific. 
He  was  much  cheered  when  he   said:   '^\e,  as   a 

242 


SOME  OFFICIAL  JOURNEYS 

nation,  should  feel  no  anxiety  for  the  future,  on  a 
day  when  we  inaugurate  simultaneously  the  statue 
of  the  Great  Captain  and  announce  to  the  world  the 
completion  of  a  grand  military  port.  The  more 
powerful  a  nation,  the  greater  the  respect  Avhich  it 
inspires.  A  government  resting  on  the  free  will  of 
the  masses  is  a  slave  to  no  party.  It  goes  to  war 
only  when  obliged  to  do  so  in  order  to  defend  its 
national  honor  or  the  greater  interests  of  peo- 
ples.' "  At  a  later  period,  speaking  of  this  journey 
and  especially  of  the  closing  part  of  this  speech.  Na- 
poleon III  said  one  day:  ''That  sentence,  which 
passed  unperceived  at  first,  was  in  reality  very  im- 
portant. It  opened  the  door  to  the  Italian  ques- 
tion." 

After  these  formal  inaugurations  and  the  visit  of 
the  Queen  of  England,  the  Emperor  and  the  Em- 
press made  a  triumphal  trip  through  Brittanj'.  The 
journey  had  a  special  purpose.  They  wished  to  con- 
quer the  hearts  of  the  very  Catholic  and  royalist 
inhabitants  of  this  part  of  France.  The  visit  was 
considered  very  opportune  and,  as  will  be  seen,  met 
with  much  success.  Eugenie  has  always  held  in 
warm  remembrance  this  trip  through  Breton  terri- 
tory where  she  was  received  most  sincerely  and 
heartily:  "AVell,  we  have  received  much  homage 
since  we  came  to  the  throne,"  the  P^mperor  said, 
"but  the  honesty  of  this  reception  has  never  been 
equaled.  Such  apphiuse  is  balm  to  a  ruler's  sorely 
tried  soul." 

Further  citations  are  made  from  the  manuscript 
notes  which  have  already  been  di'awu  fi'om:  "The 
sovereigns  sailed  from  Cherbourg  to  Ih-cst  on  board 
the  Breiagne.     The   inhabitants   of  the   latter  city 

243 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

were  grouped  on  the  little  hills  from  which  they 
could  view  the  sea,  and  the  number  was  increased 
by  crowds  who  came  in  from  the  neighboring  vil- 
lages and  hamlets.  In  the  church  of  Saint  Louis,  the 
Bishop  of  Quimper  said  to  the  Empress:  'Your  be- 
loved presence  reminds  our  people  of  their  dear 
Duchess  whose  royal  spouse  was  also  the  father  of 
the  people.  A  respected  and  eloquent  voice  has  told 
all  France  that  3^ou  are  Catholic  and  pious.  Your 
good  deeds  repeat  this  each  day.'  The  Empress  was 
much  touched  by  these  words. 

''The  sovereigns  visited  the  hospital  and  town 
and  were  present  at  a  ball  offered  by  the  munici- 
l)ality.  They  sat  on  a  throne  under  a  red  dais,  when 
fifty  Breton  peasant  couples,  announced  by  the 
hautboy  and  biniou,  a  sort  of  Breton  bagpipe,  and 
wearing  the  ancient  costume  of  Finistere,  filed  past 
tlie  throne,  preceded  by  flowing  banners.  Then  they 
went  through  the  quaint  dances  of  the  country, 
much  to  the  amusement  of  the  Imperial  party. 

"The  following  day,  the  Emperor  and  Empress 
visited  the  frigate  Thetis,  the  midshipmen's  school; 
and  the  Borda,  the  marine  cadet-school.  'Boys,' 
said  the  Emperor,  addressing  these  two  bodies  who 
had  been  brought  together  for  the  occasion,  'never 
forget  that  true  patriotism  thinks  of  the  country 
first  and  the  rulers  afterwards.'  In  the  evening 
there  were  brilliant  illuminations  and  festivities, 
and  the  Emperor  and  Empress  said  they  would  long 
remember  the  enthusiasm  of  tbese  interesting 
3^ouths. 

"On  August  12th  tlie  Imperial  cavalcade  left 
Brest.  The  drive  from  Brest  to  Quimper  was  a  long 
and  ceaseless  ovation.    All  along  the  road  the  Im- 

244 


SOME  OFFICIAL  JOURNEYS 

perial  carriage  was  escorted  by  peasants,  who, 
mounted  on  their  horses  and  bearing  tricolor  flags, 
relayed  each  other  from  one  village  to  another. 
From  Landernau  to  Quimper,  no  less  than  twelve 
triumphal  arches  were  passed  under.  Around  each 
of  these  were  grouped  the  inhabitants  of  the  neigh- 
borhood, headed  by  priests  in  sacredotal  vest- 
ments, mayors,  municipal  councilors,  and  men 
wearing  the  medal  of  Saint  Helena.  At  Quimper 
the  reception  w^as  particularly  enthusiastic.  A 
country  ball  was  offered  that  evening,  and  there 
was  a  grand  display  of  fireworks,  though,  unfor- 
tunately, many  persons  were  wounded  by  the 
sparks.  Dr.  Jobert  de  Lamballe,  the  Emperor's 
surgeon,  gave  his  best  attention  to  the  patients, 
and  the  Marquis  de  Cadore,  of  the  military  house- 
hold of  the  Empress,  who  was  much  moved  by  th(' 
accident,  was  sent  by  her  to  find  out  all  about  the 
wounded.  But  the  next  morning,  it  was  learnt  that 
the  wounds  were  without  gravity,  whereupon  the 
Emperor  and  Empress  immediately  sent  gifts  to  the 
wounded.  A  little  girl,  who  had  been  slightly  hurt, 
received  a  gift  of  two  hundred  francs,  which  she 
handed  to  her  mother,  keeping  only  twenty  francs 
for  herself.  She  had  the  coin  pierced  and  wore  it 
round  her  neck,  iu  remembrance  of  the  'good  Em- 
press,' as  she  said.  The  Empress  heard  later  of  this 
fact  and  kept  this  cliiJd  in  view  for  several  years, 
helping  her  in  mauy  ways." 

The  Empress  wrf)t(>  at  the  time  as  follows  in  a 
letter  to  a  friend:  "Th.o  weather  was  perfect,  and 
the  short  trip  ])y  sea  from  Lorient  to  Port  Louis 
was  most  pleasant.  The  stretch  of  water  between 
the  two  towns  was  dotted  with  brightly  decorated 

245 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPEESS  EUGENIE 

ships,  yachts,  and  sailing  boats  conveying  holiday- 
makers  to  Port  Louis.  In  the  liarbor  were  several 
of  the  fleet's  ships.  The  cannon  of  Saint  Michel's 
fort  saluted  our  arrival,  while  picturesque  fishing 
boats,  brought  into  line  on  either  side  of  our  pass- 
age, and  stretching  from  the  landing  stage  far  out 
to  sea,  formed  a  novel  and  quaint  double  hedge- 
way.  The  officials  of  the  town  and  the  cadets  in 
uniform  came  to  greet  the  Emperor;  the  mayor 
made  the  usual  speech  welcoming  us  to  his  town, 
and  the  young  girls  of  the  place  offered  me  flowers 
according  to  time-honored  custom.  Then,  amidst 
the  cheering  of  the  spectators,  the  Emperor  gave 
me  his  arm  and  we  passed  through  the  gates  of  the 
town,  towards  the  fortress  built  by  Vauban.  The 
view  from  the  forts  which  defend  the  citadel  is 
marvelous.  On  one  side  lie  the  harbor  and  the 
houses  of  the  town  clear-cut  against  the  horizon ;  in 
front  is  the  steeple  of  Ploermeur,  its  thatched  huts 
dotted  on  the  green  valley;  beyond  can  be  seen 
only  a  vast  stretch  of  blue  sea,  sparkling  and  rest- 
loss,  with,  far  in  the  distance,  the  vague  outline  of 
Groix  island.  I  am  told  that  each  year  an  imposing 
ceremony  takes  place  at  the  entrance  to  this  little 
bay,  when  the  fishing  boats  of  Port  Louis,  Lorient, 
Ploermeur  and  Groix  island  gather  together,  while 
the  clergy,  chanting  the  sailor's  Imnn  of  'Ave  Maris 
Stella'  come  to  the  spot  in  a  small  chapel-like  boat, 
and,  in  the  name  of  the  God  who  gives  all  things, 
bless  the  sea  so  that  it  will  yield  fish  to  the  poor 
fisherman  who  henceforth  will  cast  his  net  with 
greater  confidence  into  the  deep  waves. 

''The  Emperor  went  into  one  of  the  bastions  to 
examine   the   cannon   and,    after   several   trials   of 

246 


SOME  OFFICIAL  JOURNEYS 

them,  led  me  to  the  rooms  which  he  had  occupied 
for  a  short  while  after  the  Strasbourg  affair,  when 
he  was  on  the  point  of  sailing  for  America.  A  touch- 
ing incident  occurred  on  that  occasion.  The  Em- 
peror was  greeted  by  Mmo.  Porreaux,  an  old 
woman,  widow  of  one  of  the  artillerymen.  She  it 
was  who  had  taken  care  of  Prince  Louis  during  his 
stay  at  Port  Louis.  ^I  recognise  you  perfectly  well,' 
said  the  old  lady;  'you  have  not  changed  at  all;  you 
look  just  as  good  as  you  used  to;  and  you  were  a 
very  kind  young  man.'  She  then  went  into  partic- 
ulars, showing  the  Emperor  the  furniture  which  he 
had  used  at  Port  Louis,  the  old  desk  on  which  he 
used  to  write,  the  china  bowl  in  which  his  tea  was 
served,  the  statue  of  the  Virgin  of  Marseilles  and 
the  portrait  of  Henri  IV  which  had  embellished  his 
mantelpiece,  together  with  some  coffee  cups  which 
still  stood  there.  'Do  you  remember,'  she  said,  'that 
one  day,  when  I  went  to  that  cupboard  to  fetch  some 
sheets  at  the  top,  you  gave  me  your  hand  to  help  me 
down?'  'And  I  give  it  you  once  more  to-day,  my 
good  woman,'  replied  the  P]mperor,  shaking  hands 
with  her  cordially.  I  was  much  interested  in  all 
this  scene  and  I  encouraged  Mme.  Porreaux  to 
speak  of  her  family  and  circumstances.  She  told 
me  she  still  had  two  cliildren  left,  one  of  wliom  had 
been  sergeant  major  at  tlie  siege  of  (^onstantine  and 
was  at  present  in  very  straitened  circumstances, 
owing  to  the  heavy  expenses  caused  by  a  lai'ge 
family.  The  Emy)eror  liastened  to  ensure  his  future 
well-being,  and  withdrew  amidst  a  concert  of  thanks 
and  blessings  from  all  the  members  of  the  old 
woman 's  family. ' ' 

The    private    secretary's    notes    continue:    "On 

247 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

their  return  to  Lorient,  the  Emperor  and  Empress 
went  to  the  arsenal  and  visited  several  vessels 
which  were  being  constructed  or  repaired.  The 
workmen  greeted  the  sovereigns  enthusiastically, 
much  to  their  evident  satisfaction,  for  if  there  is 
anything  that  goes  right  to  the  heart  of  Napoleon 
III,  it  is  approval  from  the  lower  classes.  I  have 
often  noticed  this  trait  in  His  Majesty's  character. 
At  one  moment,  the  cheers  were  so  great  that  the 
director  of  naval  constructions  was  unable  to  hear 
the  Emperor's  questions  concerning  the  ships  then 
being  built.  He  was,  in  fact,  on  the  point  of  com- 
manding silence,  when  the  Emperor  intervened  and 
exclaimed:  'Don't  stop  them;  I  like  to  hear  them, 
and  would  much  rather  repeat  all  my  questions  than 
have  them  cease  cheering.' 

''A  few  hours  later,  the  Calvados  was  launched 
from  the  Caudon  docks.  Before  leawng  the  docks, 
the  Emperor  and  Empress  inspected  with  great  in- 
terest the  panoplies  of  instruments  and  tools  which 
decorated  their  tent.  Stopping  in  front  of  a  trophy 
put  up  by  the  carpenters  and  decorated  \viih  a 
beautiful  bunch  of  flowers,  tlie  Empress  detached  a 
blossom  and  showing  it  to  the  workmen  who  were 
surrounding  her  said :  *I  shall  keep  it  as  a  souvenir.' 
The  words  and  act  were  most  effective,  for  the 
workmen  broke  forth  into  deafening  cheers  and 
hurrahs. 

''August  15th,  which  is  the  Feast  of  the  Assump- 
tion and  the  anniversary  of  the  Emperor's  birth, 
was  celebrated  at  the  much  venerated  feet  of  Saint 
Anne,  patron  saint  of  Brittany;  and  almost  endless 
ovations  took  place  at  Hennebont.  On  one  of  the 
numerous    triumphal    arches    were    inscribed    the 

248 


SOME  OFFICIAL  JOURNEYS 

words  which  give  some  idea  of  the  warmth  of  the 
reception:  'To  His  Majesty  the  Emperor,  the 
Breton's  gratitude;  to  Her  Majesty  the  Empress, 
personified  goodness,  God  bless  the  Prince  Im- 
perial. All  Bretons  love  him.'  At  Saint  Grillois, 
Branderion,  and  Kermingny,  ever\^where,  in  fact, 
along  the  whole  route,  w^ere  monuments  of  verdure 
and  flowers.  Wild  enthusiasm  reigned  everywhere, 
right  up  to  Auray  itself." 

Another  longer  letter  written  by  the  Empress 
contains  these  passages:  ''Auray  is  a  spot  rich  in 
memories.  A  short  distance  away,  the  Druids'  re- 
ligion has  left  its  traces  in  the  gigantic  stones  of 
Carnac,  where  the  fields  are  strewn  with  menhirs 
and  dolmens,  in  the  grottoes  of  Plouarnel  and  of 
Locmariaquer.  At  the  gates  of  the  town,  Jean  de 
Montfort  and  Charles  de  Blois  came  to  blows  in 
1364  at  a  decisive  action  in  which  Du  Guesclin  took 
part.  Charles  de  Blois  lost  his  life  and  Montfort 
remained  Duke  of  Brittany.  In  a  meadow  near  the 
town,  bearing  the  lugubrious  name  of  'Martyrs' 
Field,'  the  republican  soldiers  in  1795  shot  the  un- 
fortunate prisoners  of  Quiboron,  victims  to  their 
monarchial  opinions.  A  monument  has  been  erected 
there  with  this  inscription  on  it:  'Hie  ceciderunt.' 
On  the  martyrs'  tomb  I  read:  'Gallia  moerens 
posuit. '  Everywhere  in  this  land,  racked  and  do- 
faced  by  intestine  wars,  even  stones  and  bushes, 
witnesses  of  such  gloi-ious  exploits  and  sad  carnage, 
speak  to  the  travelers'  imagination.  These  souve- 
nirs may  be  awakened  without  fear  now,  for  we 
were  greeted  everywhere  in  Brittany  with  joy  un- 
alloyed and  touching  in  its  sincerity. 

"The    town    is    built    on    a    hill.     The    Imperial 

249 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

cortege  descended  a  sinuous  street  and  thus  reached 
the  port.  On  the  Blavet  bridge,  the  fishennen  had 
arranged  a  kind  of  awning  with  their  nets.  Further 
on,  another  monument  had  been  erected  by  the  town 
workmen.  From  Auray  to  Saint  Anne  the  road  was 
lined  with  pilgrims  who  never  stopped  cheering  us. 
We  were  both  very  much  touched  by  such  greet- 
ings from  these  Bretons,  who,  in  spite  of  their 
staunchness  as  Bretons,  were  careful  to  let  us  see 
that  they  were  also  Frenchmen.  They  are  all  wear- 
ing the  tricolour  cockade,  and  the  women  have  bows 
made  of  ribands  of  the  national  colours.  The 
French  flag  is  flying  everywhere.  At  the  doors  of 
their  mud  huts,  covered  with  thatch,  are  hung  the 
finest  of  their  ancestral  clothes,  crosses,  rustic 
images,  every  treasure  they  possess ;  and  all  this  to 
do  honor  to  their  sovereigns.  It  all  touches  mo 
deeply.  On  one  of  these  cottages  near  Saint  Anne 
might  be  read  this  inscription,  roughly  hewn,  but 
full  of  high  thoughts:  'They  spend  one  instant  at 
Saint  Anne,  but  w^ill  live  in  our  hearts  for  ever.' 
Further  on,  we  passed  beneath  a  triumphal  arch  on 
which  were  written  tlie  following  words,  reminders 
of  glorious  days  for  France  :  '  Rome — Crimea, '  and 
a  sentence  taken  from  tlie  Book  of  Saints:  'Fiat 
manustua  super  virum  dexter.T  tua^.' 

"I  was  much  interested  in  the  history  of  the  pil- 
grimage of  Saint  Anne  and  I  asked  to  have  the 
story  told  me  in  detail.  Here  it  is.  In  former  times 
an  oratory,  dedicated  to  the  mother  of  the  Virgin 
Mary,  had  existed  at  Plumeret  in  a  field  called  I( 
Bocenuo.  It  had  never  been  possible  to  plow  the 
spot  where  the  oratory  foimerly  stood,  the  oxen 
refusing  to    step    on   the    ground,    and    the   plow- 

250 


SOME  OFFICIAL  JOURNEYS 

shares  would  break  if  the  farmers  attempted  to 
force  them  beyond  a  certain  limit.  In  the  country 
district  this  fact  was  proverbial,  and  everywhere  it 
was  said  that  'One  must  be  careful  of  the  Chapel 
when  plowing  at  Bocenno.'  Near  the  field  was  a 
small  village  called  Ker-Anna  in  remembrance  of 
the  oratory.  At  the  beginning  of  the  17th  century 
a  farmer  living  in  the  village,  a  simple  and  God- 
fearing man  named  Nicolazic,  had  a  strange  expe- 
rience. Legend  has  it  that  Providence,  ever  more 
ready  to  reveal  her  mysteries  to  the  humble  than  to 
the  proud,  warned  Nicolazic  by  reiterated  visions 
of  Saint  Anne,  that  the  woman  chosen  in  this  world 
to  be  the  grandmother  of  Christ,  was  to  be  specially 
venerated  in  that  neighborhood  which  had  for- 
merly been  the  site  of  her  generosity.  Nicolazic  was 
laughed  at,  repulsed  by  the  clergy,  treated  as  a  mad 
man,  but  his  faith  could  not  be  shaken. 

''Wonderful  things  occurred,  it  is  said,  which 
confirmed  the  Christian's  words.  An  antique  statue 
was  found  in  the  field  by  two  peasants  who  were 
led  thither  by  a  torch  which  fell  from  heaven.  At 
first  it  was  stood  up  only  on  the  grass ;  but  after  an 
investigation  conducted  by  Sebastien  de  Rosmadec, 
Bishop  of  Vannes,  and  Dom  Jacques  Bullion, 
Bachelor  at  the  Sorbonne,  it  was  decided  to  erect  an 
altar  for  it,  and  on  July  4,  1628,  the  first  stone  was 
laid,  in  the  presence  of  thirty  thousand  pilgrims. 
Nicolazic  died  of  joy,  after  having  prayed  for  some 
years  at  the  foot  of  the  statue  of  St.  Anno,  which 
was  eventually  visited  on  every  anniversary  by 
thousands  of  the  faithful.  It  is  said  that  a  peaceful 
moment  preceded  the  good  man's  last  breath.  'Here 
is  the  Blessed  Virgin,'  said  he,  'and  Saint  Anne, 

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MEMOIES  OP  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

my  good  mistress.'  He  was  buried  at  the  very  spot 
where  he  had  found  the  miraculous  statue  and  there 
his  bones  rest  to  this  day. 

''Since  then  the  pilgrimages  to  Saint  Anne  have 
become  famous.  The  Sovereign  Pontiffs  have  en- 
couraged it,  by  granting  favors  and  blessings  to 
those  who  take  part  in  it,  while  numerous  prayers 
have  been  heard,  thanks  to  the  intercession  of  the 
venerated  patron,  and  Breton  piety  has  made  it  a 
custom  to  pray  at  her  shrine  in  all  the  more  im- 
portant circumstances  of  life.  Anne  of  Austria 
came  here  to  ask  that  children  might  be  given  to 
her,  and  Louis  XIII,  Louis  XIV,  Henrietta  Maria 
of  England,  Maria  Leckzinska,  Louis  XVI,  and 
Marie  Antoinette  all  sent  gifts  in  proof  of  their 
faith  in  the  power  and  goodness  of  this  noble  saint. 
We  could  not  fail  to  bear  our  testimony  by  our 
presence  to  all  the  wonderful  powers  possessed  by 
so  blessed  a  shrine. 

''Saint  Anne's  chapel  is  situated  at  the  end  of  a 
vast  courtyard  surrounded  by  buildings  which 
formed  the  Carmelite  convent  and  which  later  be- 
came a  Catholic  boys'  school.  The  courtyard  is 
entered  by  a  triple  portico  surmounted  by  an  ex- 
terior altar  reached  by  two  large  staircases  built 
on  the  model  of  the  stairway  at  San  Giovanni  in 
Laterano  in  Rome.  It  is  called  the  Scala  Sancta. 
Because  of  the  high  altar,  twenty  thousand  per- 
sons can  be  present  at  mass.  The  number  of  ex- 
votoes  or  tablets  on  the  walls  of  the  chapel  is  in- 
numerable. A  'Holy  Family'  was  promised  by  the 
Emperor,  and  I  ^vill  see  that  it  is  given. 

"Great  preparations  were  natural!}'  made  to  re- 
ceive us  here  with  all  due  solemnity  and  splendor. 

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SOME  OFFICIAL  JOUENEYS 

An  immense  crowd  stood  around  the  large  enclos- 
ure. In  the  yard  itself,  thousands  of  pilgrims  were 
gathered,  while  at  the  door  of  the  chapel  were  sta- 
tioned the  clergy  of  the  diocese  preceded  by  the 
bishop  and  surrounded  by  the  pupils  of  the  school 
mentioned  above.  All  were  waiting  for  our  coming. 
Between  the  chapel  and  the  altar  of  the  Scala 
Sancta  was  a  dais  of  green  velvet  dotted  with 
golden  bees,  and  all  protected  by  two  richly  deco- 
rated tents.  On  the  front  of  the  chapel,  below  the 
statue  of  Saint  Anne,  had  been  placed  the  Im- 
perial crown  and  several  blue  flags.  Blue,  as  you 
know,  is  the  color  of  the  Prince  Imperial  and  thus 
it  seemed  that  the  Imperial  family  was  being  placed 
under  the  protection  of  the  patron  saint  of  Brit- 
tany. 

"Cannon,  music,  and  vociferous  cheering  greeted 
our  arrival  at  noon.  Then  the  octogenarian  bishop 
stepped  forward  and  made  a  touching  speech  in 
which  he  thanked  the  Emperor  for  all  he  had  done 
for  France,  and  for  the  Church.  'Deign,  sire,'  he 
added,  'to  look  with  special  favor  on  the  prayers 
for  you  made  by  an  old  bishop  who  has  not  forgot- 
ten that  it  is  to  Napoleon  I  that  his  father  owed  the 
joy  of  returning  to  his  country  and  of  finding  a  liv- 
ing here.'  He  ended  by  calling  for  a  blessing  from 
heaven  'on  the  Prince  Imperial  and  the  sovereigns.' 
His  words  were  so  full  of  feeling  that  I  was  really 
much  moved.  Nor  was  tlie  Emx)eror  less  so  wlien, 
replying  to  the  Bisliop,  he  said,  as  well  as  I  can 
recall  his  words:  'There  are  days  when  sovereigns 
must  set  an  example;  tliere  are  others  when  they 
must  follow  the  exam])le  set  by  others.  That  is 
why,  in  accordance  with  the  ancient  custom  of  the 

253 


'     MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

country,  I  have  desired  to  come  here  on  my  anni- 
versary' to  pray  God  for  that  which  is  the  object  of 
all  my  efforts  and  my  hopes — the  well-being  of  the 
nation  whom  he  has  sent  me  to  govern.  I  am  happy 
to  be  welcomed  by  so  venerable  a  prelate  and  I  rely 
on  your  prayers  to  draw  down  upon  me  a  heavenly 
blessing.'  I  thought  the  Emperor's  little  speech  was 
well  turned.  Anj^vay,  it  was  well  delivered  and 
veiy  well  received,  for,  in  the  midst  of  enthusiastic 
ovations,  the  Emperor  and  myself  took  our  place 
beneath  the  dais  and  crossed  the  courtyard  in  pro- 
cession, followed  by  the  clergy  and  the  members  of 
our  household.  We  were  then  led  to  the  interior 
chapel  and  recited  the  litany  of  Saint  Anne,  while 
the  imposing  'Domine  Salvum  fac  imperatorem 
nostrum  Napoleonem'  was  chanted  by  clergy,  choir, 
and  people,  and  repeated  by  the  crowds  outside.  We 
were  then  conducted  to  our  thrones  with  the  same 
ceremony. 

''Mass  was  said  on  the  altar  on  the  Scala  Sancta, 
w^hile  religious  airs,  rendered  by  the  infantry  band, 
alternated  with  singing  by  the  pupils  of  the  school. 
Cannons  were  fired  at  the  elevation  of  the  Host.  At 
the  end  of  the  mass,  a  voice  was  heard  invoking 
the  protection  of  Saint  Anne  on  the  Emperor,  my- 
self and  the  Prince  Imperial.  The  air  chosen  was 
a  popular  one,  and  the  chorus  was  taken  up  by  thou- 
sands of  voices.  All  hearts  were  filled  with  emo- 
tion at  the  spontaneous  and  hearty  rendering  of 
this  song  by  all  those  present,  and  no  hearts  were 
fuller  than  our  own. 

''After  the  service,  sixty  thousand  medals  were 
brought  to  the  Bishop  to  be  blessed  as  souvenirs  of 
tbe   P^mperor's  visit  to  Saint  Anne.     The  Bishop 

254 


SOME  OFFICIAL  JOURNEYS 

then  intoned  the  Te  Deum,  and  once  again  the  pro- 
cession went  round  the  courtyard,  preceded  by  a 
magnificent  white  moire  silk  banner  embroidered 
in  gold,  the  image  of  Saint  Anne  being  on  one 
side  and  the  arms  of  France  on  the  other.  This 
banner  was  one  of  our  gifts,  the  golden  niche,  in 
which  the  statue  of  Saint  Anne  was  borne,  being 
another.  We  afterwards  visited  the  school  where 
the  pupils  recited  verses,  and  bidding  good-by  to 
the  Bishop,  the  Emperor  expressed  a  fear  lest  the 
fatigues  of  that  day  should  injure  his  health,  add- 
ding:  'The  pleasure  I  have  had  in  seeing  you,  Mon- 
seigneur,  would  be  much  spoilt  if  you  should  suifer 
thereby.'  " 

In  another  letter  written  by  the  Empress,  I  find 
these  passages:  ''The  welcome  given  to  us  at  Van- 
nes  was  very  cordial  and  imposing.  The  following 
morning,  after  the  Emperor  had  distributed  deco- 
rations in  the  courtyard  of  the  prefecture,  we  left 
Vannes  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  midst  of  enthu- 
siastic demonstrations.  Outside  Vannes  were 
crowds  of  peasants  who  accompanied  us,  not  mere- 
ly on  horseback,  but  also  in  carts,  into  which  were 
packed  as  many  spectators  as  possible.  It  was 
a  strange  sight,  this  long  string  of  horsemen  and 
vehicles  struggling  one  with  another,  stopping  up 
the  way  and  each  one  trying  to  get  ahead  of  his 
neighbor.  Our  post-chaise  hurried  over  the  road. 
At  Mencon,  Grandchamp,  and  other  places,  were 
masses  of  flowers  and  flags.  At  a  di'^tancc  of  some 
twelve  miles  beyond  Vannes,  our  carriages  stopped. 
We  were  in  front  of  a  triumphal  arch  surmounted 
by  the  Imperial  arms  and  formed  of  foliage,  flow- 
ers, flags,  agricultural   implements,  while  the  base 

255 


MEMOIES  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

was  surrounded  by  farmers  holding  oxen  harnessed 
to  the  plow.  This  was  the  entrance  to  the  chalet 
erected  on  Cornhoet  plain  by  Princess  Baciocchi, 
a  cousin  of  the  Emperor,  and  whose  hospitality  we 
had  accepted  for  lunch.  The  peasants  had  placed 
the  following  inscription  over  the  archway,  in  Bre- 
ton: 'Dent  mad  er  Korn  er  Hoet,'  which  may  be 
translated,  'Welcome  to  Cornhoet.'  Children  from 
the  Moustoirac  schools  strewed  flowers  in  front  of 
us,  while  two  young  girls  presented  us  with  nose- 
gays. The  Princess  greeted  her  guests  warmly  and 
we  embraced  her  cordially.  We  then  visited  the 
whole  chalet,  which  is  filled  with  portraits  of  vari- 
ous members  of  the  Napoleonic  family.  Luncheon 
was  served  in  a  rustic  hall,  formed  of  roughly  hewn 
trees,  and  carpeted  with  moss  and  plants.  Besides 
our  two  suites,  there  were  present,  Marshall  Vail- 
lant.  Minister  of  War,  Marshal  Baraguay  d'Hil- 
liers,  and  several  personalities  of  the  region. 

"Out  on  the  road  and  on  the  surrounding  plain 
were  crowds  of  peasants  with  long  hair  and  on 
horseback,  wearing  their  picturesque  costume,  con- 
sisting of  wide-brimmed  hats,  and  white  clothes  em- 
broidered in  red  and  black.  Each  village  delega- 
tion had  a  flag  of  its  own  and  was  led  by  its  priest 
and  public  officials.  Some  of  the  peasants,  I  am 
told,  have  come  more  than  twenty  leagues  to  see 
the  Emperor.  The  official  persons  and  the  veterans 
of  Saint  Helena  and  of  the  Crimea  were  admitted 
into  the  park  with  the  young  girls '  deputation.  An 
enormous  crowd  was  gathered  on  the  heath.  No 
sovereign  has  visited  Brittany  since  Henri  IV,  I 
am  informed,  and  the  enthusiasm  and  cheering  were 

256 


SOME  OFFICIAL  JOURNEYS 

positively  astounding.  Princess  Baciocchi  had  pre- 
pared food  of  all  sorts  for  all  these  people. 

''The  chalet  of  Cornhoet  had  been  brought  piece- 
meal from  Paris  and  put  up  in  a  month  and  a  half. 
It  commands  the  plain  and  its  wild  environment 
is  both  delightful  and  imposing.  The  Princess  does 
much  good  in  the  neighborhood.  She  has  bought 
much  land,  imported  sheep  of  the  best  French  and 
Scotch  breeds,  and  has  vast  portions  of  the  plain 
converted  into  pasture  land  and  artificial  meadows. 
She  has  even  gone  in  for  excavations  which  have 
led  to  the  discovery  of  dolmens  at  Cornhoet  simi- 
lar to  those  of  Carnac  and  Locmariaquer.  She  has 
followed  the  example  set  by  the  Emperor  in  So- 
logne  and  in  the  plains  of  Gascony,  and  her  coming 
to  Brittany  has  been  a  blessing  to  the  country.  This 
visit  to  Cornhoet  is  one  of  the  most  curious  fea- 
tures of  this  strange  trip,  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing indeed  which  I  ever  undertook,  and  which  I 
shall  remember  with  deep  pleasure  for  many  years 
to  come." 

Here  is  a  final  extract  from  this  little  collection 
of  Eugenie's  letters:  ''A  warm  welcome  awaited 
us  at  Pontivy-Xapoleonville,  where  was  a  curious 
cavalcade  of  fifteen  hundred  Breton  cavaliers,  al- 
most all  clothed  in  white  coats  with  basques  and 
wearing  huge  round  hats  which  they  waved  as  tliey 
passed  in  front  of  the  Emperor  and  me.  Tlioir 
wives,  who  rode  on  the  same  horse  with  tlieir  hus- 
bands, were  decked  out  in  festive  garb,  almost  all 
wearing  richly  embroidered  red  gowns.  In  the 
crowd  of  horsemen  were,  I  am  told,  mayors  and 
land-owners  all  mixed  up  with  the  peasants.  Tliere 
was  the  usual  reception  at  the  prefecture,  with  the 

257 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

usual  speeches,  and  in  the  evening,  illuminations 
and  fire-works.  The  national  dances,  very  lively 
and  animated,  were  given,  and  all  the  country  steps 
were  gone  through  with,  much  to  the  delight  of  the 
spectators,  and  especially  to  me. 

*'The  journey  was  continued  through  the  de- 
partment of  C6tes-du-Nord,  passing  by  Loudeac, 
where  a  fine  arch  had  been  erected,  and  where  the 
reception  was  extremely  hearty.  From  Napoleon- 
ville  to  Loudeac,  we  were  escorted  by  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty  riders  from  the  canton  of  Goarec, 
whose  places  were  taken  at  Loudeac  by  a  similar 
number  of  farmers  from  the  canton  of  Mur,  who,  in 
their  turn,  gave  way  to  an  escort  of  young  men  from 
the  canton  of  Corlay,  when  we  reached  Pontgamp. 
At  this  last-named  town,  our  carriage  passed  under 
another  triumphal  archway,  while  at  Plouguenast, 
I  remarked  a  beautiful  arbor  of  moss  and  flowers. 
I  was  especially  struck  by  the  fine  spectacle  offered 
by  the  little  town  of  Moncontour.  It  still  retains 
its  old  walls  which  withstood  the  assaults  of  so 
many  sieges.  Its  position  on  the  slope  of  a  hill 
between  two  charming  valleys  was  not  only  impor- 
tant from  a  strategic  point  of  view,  but  is  very  pic- 
turesque. Crowds  gathered  on  the  gothic  arch- 
way, on  the  sides  of  the  hills,  and  even  on  the  gran- 
ite rocks  through  which  runs  a  little  bubbling 
stream,  'to  cheer  and  welcome  you,'  the  village 
priest  very  neatly  remarked  as  he  was  presented  to 
us." 

Such  is  a  rather  detailed  account  of  one  of  these 
successful  and  characteristic  official  visits,  in  which 
was  happily  combined  foreign  interests  and  home 
affairs.     It  was  learned  later  that  the  Queen  and 

258 


SOME  OFFICIAL  JOUENEYS 

the  Prince  Consort  read  with  interest  in  the  Paris 
journals  the  reports  of  the  journey.  *'A11  this 
proves  that  the  Empire  is  firmly  planted  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people,"  said  an  ambassador  in  the 
presence  of  the  royal  family.  The  Queen  bowed 
assent.  When  the  Emperor  was  told  of  this,  he 
remarked:  "Well,  this  confirms  a  favorite  hobby 
of  mine.  A  monarch  is  respected  abroad  in  pro- 
portion as  he  is  respected  at  home.  An  enthusiastic 
public  reception  in  which  the  whole  population  takes 
part  is  as  good  as  adding  a  new  man-of-war  to 
the  navy.  I  have  been  made  fun  of  sometimes  for 
paying  so  much  attention  to  my  popularity  among 
the  lower  classes.  But  I  do  not  think  this  is  time 
or  labor  lost;  and  I  am  now  sure  Queen  Victoria 
shares  my  view." 


CHAPTER  XI 

VISITS   TO   GERMANY   AND   EGYPT 

In  1860  the  Empire  was  at  the  height  of  its  fame. 
The  visit  which  the  Emperor  paid  to  Baden  in  the 
summer  of  this  year  was  a  signal  proof  of  this  fact. 
He  met  there  several  sovereigns  and  German 
princes — the  Kings  of  Prussia,  Bavaria,  Wiirtem- 
berg,  Saxony  and  Hanover;  the  Dukes  of  Nassau 
and  of  Saxe-Coburg-Gotha ;  the  Prince  of  Hohen- 
zollern,  the  Grand  Duke  and  the  Grand  Duchess  of 
Baden  and  his  cousin  the  Grand  Duchess  Stephanie, 
born  Beauharnais.  It  was  a  brilliant  gathering. 
Eeferring  to  this  event,  several  years  later,  the 
Emperor  said  one  day :  "It  was  an  important  meet- 
ing. I  was  then  looked  upon  as  the  arbiter  of  Eu- 
rope and  the  protector  of  monarchical  authority. 
It  is  true  that  clouds  were  gathering  on  the  Italian 
horizon,  because  of  the  Eoman  question,  but,  as  re- 
gards Germany  and  Eussia,  not  only  was  all  calm 
but  there  was  a  marked  exchange  of  friendly  senti- 
ments." 

It  has  long  been  the  policy  of  Prance  to  be  on 
friendly  terms  with  Spain,  for  in  this  way  her  whole 
southwest  border  is  safe  in  case  of  a  European  war. 
Napoleon  III  always  felt  that  his  great  uncle  had 
made  a  grave  mistake  in  his  aggressive  policy  in 
the  Iberian  peninsula  and  one  of  the  most  constant 
efforts  of  the  Second  Empire  was  to  improve  its 

260 


VISITS  TO  GERMANY  AND  EGYPT 

relations  with  Spain.  In  fact,  the  initial  cause  of 
the  war  of  1870  was  fear  on  the  part  of  France  lest 
a  German  prince  be  placed  on  the  Spanish  throne. 
In  the  autumn  of  1863,  an  occasion  offered  for  the 
French  government  to  show  its  friendliness  to  her 
neighbor,  and  the  occasion  was  seized.  The  Im- 
perial family  had  been  spending  the  summer  at  Biar- 
ritz, and  when  the  Emperor  and  the  young  Prince 
Imperial  returned  to  Paris  in  October,  the  Empress 
embarked  on  the  Aigle  and  landed  on  the  18th  at 
Valencia.  One  of  the  ladies  in  her  suite  kept  a  jour- 
nal of  this  visit,  from  w^hich,  I  think,  the  following 
extracts  may  be  made  with  propriety. 

**The  Empress's  fellow  countrymen  and  country- 
women are  evidently  delighted  to  see  her  again  after 
an  absence  of  eleven  years.  They  have  cheered  her 
enthusiatically  all  the  way  from  Valencia  to  Mad- 
rid, which  we  reached  at  eleven  at  night.  We  were 
met  at  the  station  by  the  King,  Don  Francisco 
d'Assis,  who  was  surrounded  by  all  the  high  func- 
tionaries of  the  court.  He  and  the  Empress  imme- 
diately entered  a  state  coach  drawn  by  eight  horses, 
and  the  brilliantly  lighted  royal  palace  was  soon 
reached.  The  Empress  felt  considerable  emotion 
as  she  once  again  entered  the  s})lendid  residence 
built  by  Charles  III  on  tlie  height  which  liad  been 
formerly  occupied  by  the  Alcazar,  and  the  next  day 
she  told  me  that  all  the  time  recollections  of  her 
early  youth  were  runnixig  in  her  head :  her  first  ap- 
pearance at  court,  where  her  mother  was  keeper  of 
the  Queen's  wardrol)e,  and  her  first  successes  in 
high  Spanish  society. 

''The  palace  staircase  is  magnificent.  The  steps 
are  made  of  solid  blocks  of  black  and  white  marble 

2G1 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

and  on  each  one  stood  a  magnificent  halberdier.  On 
the  second  landing  stood  Queen  Isabella,  waiting  to 
greet  the  Empress.  She  kissed  her  warmly  and  con- 
ducted her  to  the  King's  apartments,  which  had  been 
reserved  for  her,  and  a  few  moments  later  sent  her, 
by  a  nobleman,  a  case  containing  a  key  fashioned  in 
gold  and  silver,  and  most  artistically  worked.  It 
was  the  key  of  the  palace.  The  Empress  was  much 
touched  by  this  delicate  act,  which  was  truly  Cas- 
tilian.  The  next  day,  the  Empress  drove  about  the 
city  with  the  Queen,  King  and  Princess  Anna  Murat. 
That  evening  there  was  a  grand  performance  at  the 
Royal  Theatre.  The  large  auditorium  presented  a 
fairydike  aspect,  filled  with  two  thousand  guests,  the 
ladies  sparkling  in  jewels.  The  Empress  occupied 
the  large  box  opposite  the  stage,  and  was  seated  be- 
tween the  King  and  Queen.  She  was  naturally  the 
cynosure  of  all  eyes  and  was  warmly  applauded, 
for  many  of  those  present  had  been  her  guests  at 
the  Tuileries,  at  Compiegne  or  at  Fontainebleau, 
and  all  knew  how  ardently  she  was  attached  to  her 
native  land  and  how  often  she  expressed  the  hope 
that  Spain  might  eventually  take  rank  again  among 
the  great  powers  in  the  European  alliance. 

''The  Empress  is,  of  course,  very  careful  to  let 
it  be  seen  how  much  she  appreciates  the  warm  man- 
ner in  which  she  is  every^vhere  received.  She  was 
given  a  fine  opportunity  to  do  this  when  she  met 
the  whole  diplomatic  corps,  the  other  evening,  at 
the  French  embassy.  The  French  ambassador,  M, 
Adolphe  Barrot,  brother  of  Odillon  Barrot,  the  cele- 
brated orator  and  statesman,  and  of  Ferdinand  Bar- 
rot, is  particularly  well  remembered  by  the  Empress, 
for  he  it  was  who,  when  French  minister  at  Brus- 

262 


VISITS  TO  GERMANY  AND  EGYPT 

sels,  helped  to  defeat  the  Orsini  outrage,  by  putting 
the  police  on  the  track  of  one  of  the  murderer's  ac- 
complices. A  still  better  chance  was  afforded  the 
Empress  of  letting  all  Spain  see  how  touched  she 
was,  at  the  splendid  ball  given  in  the  royal  palace 
and  at  another  ball  offered  her  by  the  diplomatic 
corps.  The  Empress  was  struck  by  the  magnificence 
of  the  first  function,  and  especially  noticed  the  su- 
perb candelabra  in  rock  crystal  which  hung  from 
the  ceiling  painted  by  Tiepolo,  representing  the  ex- 
altation of  the  Spanish  monarchy.  Pointing  up  to 
this  masterpiece  during  the  evening's  entertainment, 
the  Empress  said  to  the  King  with  great  felicity: 
'The  Venetian  artist  has  there  expressed  what  the 
Emperor  and  I  both  feel  so  truly. '  We  also  greatly 
admired  the  walls  covered  with  crimson  velvet, 
edged  with  gold,  and  the  Empress's  attention  was 
particularly  centered  on  a  dozen  marble  tables,  set 
in  front  of  twelve  large  mirrors,  these  tables  being 
loaded  with  art  objects  of  the  highest  value. 

''The  Empress  left  Madrid  on  October  21st.  The 
Queen,  preceded  by  the  grandees  of  Spain  and  fol- 
lowed by  the  royal  family,  went  to  the  apartments 
of  the  Empress  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  where 
they  found  their  guest  attired  for  the  journey  and 
awaiting  them.  The  same  coach  and  eight,  the 
horses  harnessed  in  rod  and  white,  which  had 
brought  us  from  the  station,  now  took  us  there 
again.  But  this  time,  the  Queen  accompanied  us. 
Just  as  the  Empress  was  getting  into  the  train,  the 
Queen  handed  licr  a  bracelet  on  which  was  formed 
in  rubies  and  diamonds  the  words:  Kecuerdo,  sou- 
venir." 

The  sovereigns  parted  after  an  affectionate  farc- 

263 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

well.  Some  years  laier,  they  frequently  met,  for 
Queen  Isabella,  after  her  descent  from  the  throne, 
resided  in  Paris  till  her  death  in  1904.  The  ties  be- 
tween her  and  Eugenie  remained  unbroken  during 
the  exile  of  them  both,  and  the  latter  never  passed 
through  Paris  on  her  way  south,  after  the  fall  of 
the  Empire,  without  paying  a  visit  to  the  Hotel  de 
Castillo,  in  the  Avenue  Kleber,  which  has  now  given 
way  to  a  big  modern  caravansary. 

On  October  10, 1846,  Queen  Isabella  of  Spain,  then 
but  sixteen  years  old,  married  her  cousin,  Don  Fran- 
cisco d'Assis,  Duke  of  Cadiz,  and  on  the  same  day 
the  Due  de  Montpensier,  a  younger  son  of  Louis 
Philippe,  married  the  Infanta  Louisa,  sister  of 
Queen  Isabella.  These  unions  disturbed  the  good 
relations  between  France  and  England,  for  the  lat- 
ter country  saw  in  them,  and  especially  in  that  of 
the  son  of  the  French  king,  the  possibility  of  the 
crown  of  Spain  and  France  belonging  to  the  same 
family.  In  fact,  in  1869,  the  Due  de  Montpensier 
really  did  aspire  to  the  vacant  throne  of  Spain.  So 
one  of  the  aims  of  Napoleon  III  was  to  remove  all 
cause  of  friction  between  the  three  sister  nations. 
He  began  the  good  work  with  Spain  and  France. 
Hence  the  importance  of  the  visit  of  Don  Francisco, 
who  arrived  at  Saint  Cloud  on  August  16, 1864.  This 
visit  had  been  planned  long  beforehand  and  the  Em- 
peror and  the  Empress  had  determined  that  it 
should  be  magnificently  carried  out,  chiefly  for  the 
reasons  just  given. 

Don  Francisco,  who  spent  the  last  years  of  his 
life  almost  constantly  in  Paris,  did  not  at  that  date 
know  much  of  the  French  capital,  not  having  re- 
turned there  since  his  childhood,  and  the  Emperor 

264 


VISITS  TO  GERMANY  AND  EGYPT 

desired  to  give  him,  in  the  course  of  a  few  days,  an 
adequate  idea  of  modern  Paris,  from  the  military, 
artistic,  industrial  and  worldly  point  of  view ;  to  say 
nothing  of  a  glance  at  its  archeological  treasures. 
Moreover,  it  was  decided  that  a  grand  fete  should 
be  offered  at  Versailles  to  this  descendant  of  Louis 
XIV,  a  fete  which  was  to  be  somewhat  similar  to 
that  which  had  been  organized  in  1855  on  the  occa- 
sion of  Queen  Victoria's  visit. 

Interviews  concerning  the  arrangement  of  the  pro- 
gram took  place  several  times  between  M.  Drouyn 
de  Lhuys,  French  Foreign  Minister,  and  M.  Isturzz, 
then  Spanish  ambassador,  who  carried  his  seventy- 
four  years  very  lightly,  and  whose  proverbial  wit 
did  not  diminish  with  his  advancing  age.  Both  the 
Emperor  and  the  Empress  always  enjoyed  his  con- 
versation, which  sparkled  with  fine  and  well-chosen 
humor,  and  was  replete  with  anecdote,  the  result  of 
his  long  and  varied  career.  He  had  been  Spanish 
ambassador  to  England  three  tim.es  in  ten  years, 
which  led  him  to  remark  to  the  American  Minister 
to  France :  "You  might  think  our  Foreign  Minister 
were  a  son  of  General  Jackson,"  a  reference,  of 
course,  to  the  custom  which  President  Jackson  is 
said  to  have  introduced  into  American  public  life 
of  changing  the  office-holders  with  every  new  admin- 
istration. 

In  one  of  these  meetings  between  the  two  diplo- 
mats to  arrange  for  this  visit,  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys 
read  to  Don  Xavier  the  following  very  much  over- 
crowded program : 

"The  first  day:  presentation  at  Saint  Cloud  of 
the  ditferent  persons  of  rank;  second  and  third 
days:  visits  to  the  monuments  of  tLe  capital  fol- 

2G5 


MEMOIRS  OP  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

lowed  by  a  gala  dinner  at  the  Tuileries  and  a  gala 
representation  at  the  Opera;  fourth  day:  review  of 
the  troops  on  the  Champ  de  Mars,  and  fete  at  Ver- 
sailles.   The  fifth  day " 

Here  the  Spanish  ambassador  interrupted  the 
Minister  with  a  smile,  saying:  "The  fifth  day,  fu- 
neral of  the  ambassador." 

Nevertheless,  the  program  was  accepted,  and  on 
the  evening  of  April  16th  the  Emperor  went  to  the 
temporary  station  in  the  park  of  Saint  Cloud,  to 
meet  Don  Francisco. 

During  the  Prince  Consort's  stay  there  was  a 
grand  gala  performance  at  the  Opera.  The  Em- 
peror, the  Empress  and  the  guest  of  honor  occu- 
pied a  large  box  in  the  center  of  the  theater  instead 
of  the  box  to  the  left  which  was  used  on  ordinary  oc- 
casions. The  center  box  used  for  gala  nights  was 
made  by  the  withdrawal  of  several  partitions,  thus 
throwing  several  boxes  into  one  large  one  which 
was  suitably  decorated  for  the  event.  The  ordi- 
nary Imperial  box  on  the  left  was  occupied  on  that 
occasion  by  a  brilliant  party  from  the  diplomatic 
corps. 

Unfortunately  the  Empress  was  saddened  that 
evening  by  a  painful  occurrence.  The  charming 
Princess  Czartoryska,  daughter  of  Queen  Christine 
and  the  Duke  of  Rianzares,  was  then  at  death's  door. 
The  Empress  was  verj"  fond  of  the  charming  young 
woman  who  had  been  for  several  years  past  the  vic- 
tim of  a  cruel  disease.  During  the  day,  making  the 
most  of  the  few  hours  of  liberty  which  she  might 
hope  to  enjoy  while  Don  Francisco  was  receiving 
the  members  of  the  Spanish  colony  at  the  Embassy, 
Eugenie  paid  a  short  visit  to  her  young  friend. 

266 


VISITS  TO  GERMANY  AND  EGYPT 

Weak  as  she  was,  the  Princess  still  believed  in  the 
possibility  of  recovery,  and  happy  at  having  the 
Empress  near  her  for  an  instant,  made  her  promise 
to  return  again  within  a  few  days.  Deeply  moved, 
she  promised  to  do  so,  and  sorrowfully  withdrew. 
A  few  days  later  Eugenie  kept  the  promise  but  not 
in  the  way  in  which  the  Princess  anticipated;  for 
she  was  never  again  to  see  in  full  life  this  delicate 
Spanish  flower  which  had  been  transplanted  from 
its  sunny  climate  to  the  sad  though  sumptuous  pal- 
ace in  the  He  Saint  Louis,  built  by  a  magistrate  in 
the  seventeenth  century,  decorated  by  Lepautre,  Le- 
brun  and  Lesueur,  immortalized  by  Voltaire,  which, 
after  many  vicissitudes,  had  become  the  property  of 
the  Princess  Czartoryska.  This  palace,  by  the  way, 
is  still  visited  by  tourists  to  Paris.  On  the  very 
morning  of  the  day  on  which  the  grand  fete  at  Ver- 
sailles was  to  take  place,  the  Empress  learned  that 
Princess  Ampara  Czartoryska  had  breathed  her  last. 
She  immediately  sent  word  to  her  reader.  Made- 
moiselle Bouvet,  to  come  and  accompany  her  and 
in  a  post-chaise  they  left  Saint  Cloud,  rapidly 
crossed  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  and  driving  the  length 
of  the  quays  reached  the  He  Saint  Louis. 

The  somber  hotel  was  closed  to  all  but  the  near 
friends.  Eugenie  hastened  to  the  death-chamber, 
which  was  hung  with  red  damask,  where  Princess 
Ampara  lay  like  a  sleeping  child,  her  head  buried  in 
her  waving  brown  hair,  no  trace  of  suffering  on  the 
pretty  youthful  face  which  was  now  stamped  with 
the  supernatural  serenity,  the  mighty  calm  of  death. 
Weeping,  the  Empress  prayed  long  in  the  darkened 
chamber,  lighted  only  by  the  candles  near  the  bed; 
then  laying  on  the  cofiin  the  flowers  she  had  brought 

267 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

she  withdrew,  deeply  moved.  Princess  Ampara  re- 
sembled somewhat  the  Duchesse  d'Albe,  and  the 
Empress's  thoughts  flew  to  that  much  loved  sister 
whom  she  had  been  unable  to  see  during  her  last  mo- 
ments on  earth. 

Notwithstanding  this  sad  errand,  and  the  sorrow- 
ful thoughts  of  the  drive  back  to  Saint  Cloud,  barely 
had  the  Empress  reached  the  castle,  before  it  be- 
came necessary  for  her  to  cast  grief  aside  and  pre- 
pare to  start  for  Versailles,  where  the  admirable 
and  magnificent  fete  had  been  so  carefully  prepared 
for  the  Spanish  King.  This  incident  well  illustrates 
one  of  the  unpleasant  sides  of  a  ruler's  existence. 
He  is  never  his  o"vvn  master ;  this  supreme  governor 
of  men,  whom  the  ignorant  imagine  the  happiest  of 
mortals. 

The  court  started  from  Saint  Cloud  at  three 
o'clock  and  drove  rapidly  to  the  Trianon,  where,  by 
the  way,  the  Empress  had  for  several  years  past 
been  collecting  all  articles  which  had  once  belonged 
to  Marie  Antoinette.  She  was  quite  proud  to  show 
her  future  museum  to  the  Spanish  sovereign,  who 
greatly  encouraged  Eugenie  in  the  work. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  describe  in  some  detail 
one  of  these  out-door  festivals  which  were  so  fa- 
mous under  the  Second  Empire. 

Before  the  imperial  party  arrived,  a  very  con- 
siderable number  of  guests  had  already  filled  the 
park  of  Versailles.  Indeed,  they  had  begun  to 
gather  quite  early  in  the  morning,  for  numerous  in- 
vitations had  been  sent  out  to  the  official  and  ele- 
gant society  of  Paris.  At  six  o'clock  the  King,  ac- 
companied by  the  Emperor,  the  Empress,  the 
Princes  of  the  family,  and  all  the  court,  were  con- 

268 


VISITS  TO  GERMANY  AND  EGYPT 

ducted  to  the  principal  fountains  in  the  park:  the 
Star,  the  Colonnade,  Apollo,  Latone,  Neptune,  Flora, 
where  Moliere's  play  La  Princesse  d' Elide  was 
given  for  the  first  time  in  the  Bosquet  de  la  Eeine, 
so  famous  by  its  association  with  the  sad  affair  of 
the  diamond  necklace,  that  curious  episode  of  the  old 
regime  that  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress  more 
than  once  tried  to  fathom. 

Having  visited  the  park,  the  royal  party  returned 
to  the  castle,  entering  by  the  marble  courtyard  and 
stopping  in  front  of  the  grand  staircase.  On  each 
step  was  stationed  one  of  the  Cent  Gardes,  and  the 
salons  and  galleries,  the  railings  and  banisters,  were 
all  covered  with  flowers  and  ferns.  It  seemed  in- 
deed as  though  the  home  of  Louis  XIV  had 
awakened  to  all  its  splendor  and  was  once  again  in- 
habited by  a  brilliant  court,  to  greet  the  great  king's 
grand-nephew,  who  was  now  the  honored  guest  with- 
in its  walls. 

After  an  hour  spent  by  the  ladies  in  changing  their 
gowns,  the  court  met  again  for  dinner.  This  took 
place  in  the  apartment  formerly  occupied  by  the 
Queen.  Immediately  afterwards  there  was  a  rep- 
resentation in  the  theater  of  Psyche,  a  fine  ballet 
with  choruses  by  Corneille  and  Moliere,  wiiich  had 
been  played  in  the  palace  in  the  time  of  Louis  XIV. 
A  then  famous  dancer,  Mademoiselle  Fiocre,  very 
gracefully  personified  Love  in  the  ballet. 

After  the  ballet  came  the  ilhuninations,  which 
were  magnificent,  and  greatly  enhanced  by  the 
beauty  of  the  evening.  The  wonderful  fireworks 
were  considered  fairylike  not  only  by  the  sovereigns 
and  their  guests,  but  also  by  the  large  mass  of  spec- 
tators gathered  in  every  part  of  the  grounds.     A 

269 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

more  personal  detail  may  be  given,  perhaps.  The 
Empress  was  wearing  a  white  tulle  gown,  trimmed 
with  roses,  while  from  her  shoulders  fell  a  long  cash- 
mere mantle  of  red  cloth  embroidered  with  gold. 
When  the  first  rockets  went  up,  she  expressed  the 
desire  to  leave  the  terrace  and,  leaning  on  the  King 
of  Spain's  arm,  they  walked  about  among  the  crowd, 
followed  only  by  a  lady  in  waiting  and  the  Due  de 
Morny.  So  great  was  the  enthusiasm  of  the  spec- 
tators and  so  eager  their  desire  to  give  them  a  warm 
greeting,  that  the  Empress's  mantle  was  in  rags 
before  she  could  escape.  The  Emperor  was  a  little 
nervous  for  a  moment,  and  when  she  got  back  to 
his  side,  on  the  more  protected  terrace,  he  remarked: 
"You  must  feel  like  exclaiming:  'Save  me  from 
my  friends.'  "  It  was  an  evening  truly  worthy  of 
the  Versailles  of  Louis  XIV  and  the  end  was  not  less 
brilliant  than  the  beginning.  It  closed  with  a  supper 
in  the  Galerie  des  Glaces,  during  which  the  Opera 
orchestra  was  heard,  and  warmly  applauded  by 
everybody.  To  recall  the  comment  of  Don  Fran- 
cisco: ''To  listen  to  this  music  was  alone  worth  the 
journey  from  ^Madrid  to  Paris." 

The  Court  returned  to  Saint  Cloud  at  two  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  after  a  day  which  has  remained 
legendary  in  the  annals  of  royal  festivities.  After 
the  emotions  of  the  morning  and  the  constant  cere- 
monial of  that  long  day,  the  Empress  might  justly 
have  claimed  the  right  to  bo  tired.  She  had  the  satis- 
faction, however,  of  having  witnessed  the  fuU  re- 
alization of  an  idea  which  originated  with  her,  that 
of  giving  to  the  grand-nephew  of  Louis  XIV  a  really 
unique  fete,  in  every  respect  worthy  of  the  great 

270 


VISITS  TO  GERMANY  AND  EGYPT 

'*Roi  Soleil,"  the  creator  of  Versailles,  and  recalling 
the  magnificent  splendor  of  his  memorable  reign. 

King  Francisco  left  France  after  a  stay  of  eight 
days  at  Saint  Cloud,  delighted  with  the  cordial  wel- 
come he  had  received  everywhere.  He  still  remem- 
bered it  in  1868  when  the  revolution  forced  the  royal 
family  to  leave  Spain,  for  it  was  to  France  that  the 
husband  of  Queen  Isabella  returned,  and  there  he 
died  some  years  ago.  The  Emperor  and  the  Em- 
press met  him  frequently  during  the  closing  years 
of  his  life  and  more  than  once  he  spoke  of  this  visit 
and  especially  of  "that  never-to-be-forgotten  day  at 
Versailles,"  as  he  used  to  say. 

After  the  departure  of  King  Francisco,  wishing 
to  show  still  greater  interest  in  her  native  land,  the 
Empress  drove  to  pay  a  visit  to  Queen  Christine  of 
Spain,  widow  of  Ferdinand  VII  and  mother  of 
Queen  Isabella,  also  of  several  other  notable  chil- 
dren, among  whom  was  Princess  Ampara  above 
mentioned.  Queen  Christine,  by  the  way,  lived  with 
her  husband  in  the  house  in  the  Champs  Elysees 
long  known  as  the  Hotel  do  la  Peine  Christine,  which 
was  inhabited  during  about  twenty  years  by  the 
Duchesse  d'Uzes,  born  Mortemart. 

Thus  ended  this  memorable  visit  which  did  not  a 
little  to  draw  Spain  and  France  more  closely  to- 
gether, and  thus  did  Napoleon  III  ever  labor  to  the 
best  interests  of  his  country;  and  the  Empress  took 
a  deep  interest  in  this  good  work,  especially  in  this 
instance,  for,  while  loving  her  adopted  land,  she 
never  forgot  that  of  her  birth. 

In  the  early  autumn  of  1 864  it  was  announced  that 
Prince  Humbert  of  Savoy  was  coming  to  France  to 
accompany  the  Emperor  to  the  maneuvers  at  th» 

271 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

camp  of  Chalons,  and  it  was  considered  necessary 
to  receive  the  son  of  Victor  Emmanuel  with  great 
ceremony.  This  visit  of  the  heir  apparent  belonged 
to  a  period  of  transformation  which  Italy  was  per- 
force traversing.  The  capital  was  still  at  Turin, 
though,  for  the  better  interests  of  the  different  prov- 
inces, it  was  considered  necessary  to  remove  it  to 
Florence.  While  recognizing  the  necessity  for  this 
change,  it  was  a  matter  of  deep  regret  for  Victor 
Emmanuel  that  he  should  have  to  deprive  Turin, 
the  cradle  of  the  house  of  Savoy,  of  the  privileges 
attached  to  the  capitol  of  a  great  state;  but  there 
were  powerful  considerations  in  favor  of  the  pro- 
posed change,  considerations  of  an  administrative, 
strategical  and  parliamentary  order  which  could  not 
be  overlooked.  It  was  easy  to  guess,  however, 
though  Chevalier  Nigra,  minister  of  the  Italian  king 
and  persona  grata  at  the  French  court,  was  careful 
not  to  hint  at  it,  that  the  secret  hope  of  Italian 
statesmen  was  to  reach  Rome  one  day;  and  they  con- 
sidered the  move  to  Florence  a  long  step  in  that  di- 
rection. But  the  hour  had  not  yet  struck  for  this, 
and  but  for  the  French  reverses  in  1870,  the  change 
would  certainly  not  have  been  accomplished  as  soon 
as  was  the  case.  Cavour  himself  was  long  hostile 
to  a  too  rapid  entrance  into  Rome,  declaring  that 
there  should  always  be  left  a  future  goal  for  the 
nation  to  aim  at.  These  matters,  though  in  every- 
body's mind  at  the  moment  of  this  visit,  were  not 
broached,  for  the  Empress,  for  one,  did  not  like 
Italian  politics,  deeply  attached  as  she  was  to  the 
Holy  See  and  fearing  the  ambitious  aims  and  pro- 
jects of  Victor  Emmanuel.     Everybody  knew  her 

272 


VISITS  TO  GERMANY  AND  EGYPT 

views  on  these  points  and  so  these  burning  questions 
were  avoided. 

Prince  Humbert  was  only  twenty  in  1864  when  he 
came  to  Paris.  He  bore  very  little  resemblance  to 
Victor  Emmanuel,  though  he  strenuously  sought  to 
imitate  his  manners.  He  was  much  more  like  Prin- 
cess Clotilde ;  but  in  spite  of  a  certain  similarity  of 
features,  their  faces  nevertheless  offered  striking 
differences,  especially  in  expression.  Again,  the 
timidity  and  gentleness  of  the  brother  were  replaced 
in  the  sister  by  vivacity,  firmness  and  tenacity  of 
purpose. 

For  several  days  Saint  Cloud  was  the  theater  of 
grand  receptions  and  festivities  in  honor  of  the 
young  Prince,  who  proved  very  amiable  and  gra- 
cious. At  one  of  the  receptions,  it  may  be  noted,  the 
celebrated  Comtesse  de  Castiglione  made  her  ap- 
pearance. It  was  one  of  the  last  occasions  on  which 
this  remarkable  woman  was  seen  at  Court,  and  the 
fact  still  remains  vividly  fixed  in  my  mind.  She  was 
presented  to  the  young  Prince,  who  admitted  that 
he  was  very  curious  to  meet  her,  and  declared  after- 
wards that  she  came  up  to  his  expectations.  This 
is  not  always  the  case,  by  the  way. 

After  the  autumn  maneuvers  at  Chalons,  evidently 
much  pleased  with  the  cordial  welcome  given  him 
by  his  hosts  and  their  court,  the  future  unfortunate 
King  of  Italy  returned  home.  Ever  afterwards  he 
had  a  warm  place  in  his  heart  for  France  and  the 
French  people,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  Italian 
statesmen,  under  the  influence  of  Bismarck,  strove 
for  many  years  to  separate  the  two  countries.  But 
during  the  Second  Empire,  and  especially  during 
the  earlier  period,  Napoleon  III  held  them  together, 

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MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

and  if  they  came  together  once  more  in  the  very 
first  years  of  the  present  century,  this  natural  and 
happy  result  was  due  in  no  small  measure  to  the  old 
sentiments  of  friendliness  solidly  established  by  the 
Emperor,  of  which  this  visit  was  one  of  the  founda- 
tion stones. 

After  the  departure  of  Prince  Humbert,  the  Em- 
press visited  the  mineral  springs  of  Schwalbach,  a 
small  town  in  the  duchy  of  Nassau,  then  governed 
by  Duke  Adolphus,  who  w^as  mulcted  of  his  domin- 
ion in  1866,  because  of  his  support  of  Austria  in 
Prussia's  conflict  w^th  that  power,  but  later  became 
Duke  of  Luxembourg. 

At  that  time  she  was  suffering  from  nervous 
spasms,  and  the  consequent  inability  to  take  food 
had  reduced  her  to  a  state  of  extreme  weakness. 
The  doctors  advised  her  to  cross  the  frontier  and 
seek  health  at  the  waters  of  Schwalbach.  But  owing 
to  the  political  difficulties  then  prevalent,  the  Em- 
press was  most  reluctant  to  follow  their  advice  and 
only  consented  to  do  so  on  condition  that  she  should 
be  allowed  to  avoid  all  pomp  and  Court  ceremonial, 
and  live  in  Germany  in  the  strictest  privacy.  The 
necessary  diplomatic  negotiations  and  formalities 
having  been  attended  to,  it  was  finally  agreed  that, 
traveling  under  the  name  of  Comtesse  de  Pierre- 
fonds,  she  would  in  no  way  be  subjected  to  the  nu- 
merous and  wearisome  duties  of  a  sovereign.  If  I 
am  not  mistaken,  this  was,  by  the  way,  the  first  time 
Eugenie  used  this  convenient  incognito  title,  which 
of  course  comes  from  the  splendidly  restored  his- 
toric castle  of  Pierrefonds,  near  Compiegne. 

The  Empress  left  Saint  Cloud  by  the  Imperial 
train,  on  September  5th  at  seven  o  'clock  in  the  even- 

274 


VISITS  TO  GERMAIsrY  AND  EGYPT 

ing,  and  reached  the  frontier  about  six  the  following 
morning,  when  the  French  officials,  who  had  accom- 
panied the  train,  having  to  make  way  for  German 
officials,  the  latter  expressed  the  desire  to  "present 
their  respects  to  the  Empress."  In  spite  of  the 
earliness  of  the  hour,  the  latter  considered  it  neces- 
sary to  comply  with  this  strange  request,  and  re- 
ceived them.  Thereupon,  they  presented  to  her  a 
bunch  of  rare  orchids,  accompanied  by  a  compli- 
ment drawn  up  in  the  form  of  a  madrigal,  which 
declared  that  the  ''most  beautiful  flowers  of  Ger- 
many hastened  to  welcome  the  most  beautiful  flower 
of  France."  This  rather  heavy  bit  of  Teutonic  flat- 
tery is  mentioned  here  as  a  striking  illustration  of 
the  friendly  feeling  for  France  then  existing  even 
in  the  minor  German  official  world.  These  well-in- 
tentioned individuals  carried  their  chivalrous  en- 
thusiasm to  the  point  of  decorating  with  wreaths  of 
flowers  the  locomotive  which  was  to  draw  the  Im- 
perial train.  Though  her  sleep  had  been  interrupted 
— albeit  in  so  poetical  a  manner — the  Empress 
warmly  thanked  the  oflicials  for  their  courteous  re- 
ception, and  the  train  was  soon  rolling  along  on 
German  soil. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  country  round  about  knew 
of  Eugenie's  coming  and  her  incognito  was  conse- 
quently not  much  respected.  At  every  station  were 
words  of  welcome  and  cheers  innumerable  uttered 
by  sympathetic  crowds,  which  still  further  proves 
what  I  have  always  held,  that  if  Bismarck  and  other 
high  German  politicians  had  not  forced  Germany 
into  a  war  with  France,  the  people  of  the  two  na- 
tions would  have  lived  on  in  peace. 

The  train  hurried  over  the  gigantic  bridge  which 

275 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

spans  the  Rhine,  passed  through  Mayence  with  its 
pink  stone  houses,  and  reached  Wiesbaden  at  one 
o'clock.  All  along  the  route  the  Empress  had  ob- 
served every  feature  of  land  and  people,  for  this  was 
her  first  visit  to  Germany,  since  some  years,  and 
everything  interested  her  in  this  country,  so  differ- 
ent from  France  in  many  respects.  In  fact  this  jour- 
ney across  the  Rhine  did  much  to  reawaken  her 
waning  love  for  travel,  which  grew  stronger  and 
stronger  with  the  years. 

The  Duke  of  Nassau  had  sent  one  of  his  aides-de- 
camp to  offer  his  services  and  to  beg  that  the  Em- 
press would  continue  her  journey  in  the  ducal  car- 
riages, which  were  in  attendance,  and  were  driven 
by  postilions  in  orange  and  blue  livery.  But  as  she 
did  not  wish  to  make  any  changes  in  the  program 
which  had  been  laid  out  for  her,  she  sent  her  thanks 
to  the  Duke  for  his  kind  attention  and  mounted,  with 
the  suite,  into  the  hired  landaus  which  drove  for  two 
hours  through  a  beautiful  hilly  country.  It  was 
pouring  with  rain  when  they  reached  Schwalbach, 
but  the  Empress  was  warmly  welcomed  by  a  crowd 
of  spectators  and  bathers. 

She  took  up  her  abode  in  a  villa  of  modest  appear- 
ance, and  adopted  the  mode  of  living  of  all  visitors 
at  that  watering  place.  Every  one  seemed  to  take 
interest  in  her  health  and  she  was  the  object  of 
many  kind  attentions.  The  Empress  soon  perceived 
a  visible  change  in  her  appearance,  and  little  by  little 
she  gained  strength.  It  was  clearly  evident  that 
these  excellent  waters  were  producing  their  usual 
effect. 

The  party  consisted,  among  others,  of  the  ladies 
of  the  Palace,  Comtesse  de  la  Bedoyere  and  Com- 

276 


VISITS  TO  GERMANY  AND  EGYPT 

tesse  de  la  Poeze,  both  daughters  of  the  Marquis  de 
la  Rochelambert,  formerly  French  minister  in  Prus- 
sia; they  knew  German  and  Germany  well,  having 
been  partly  educated  in  that  country,  and  were, 
chiefly  for  that  reason,  chosen  to  go  with  the  Em- 
press on  this  tour,  her  own  knowledge  of  that  diffi- 
cult language  being  very  poor,  especially  at  that 
time.  Several  high  Court  male  officials  were  also 
in  her  suite. 

The  following  description  of  the  daily  life  at 
Schwalbach  is  taken  from  letters  written  from  there 
at  the  time  by  a  member  of  the  household.  This  cor- 
respondence is  here  used  for  the  first  time: 

**  German  hours  and  mode  of  living  have  been 
adopted  by  us  all.  The  Empress  drinks  the  tepid, 
effervescing  waters  with  great  regularity  and  takes 
the  noted  baths,  which  are  certainly  doing  her  much 
good.  The  regulation  bath  and  walk  are  followed 
by  dinner  at  two  o'clock,  when  the  local  dishes  are 
partaken  of  without  murmur,  even  to  the  kirsclien 
compote  which  accompanies  the  roast  joint.  One 
day,  in  honor  of  the  French  sovereign,  pullets  from 
France  were  sent  to  the  table.  The  Empress  rarely 
notices  what  is  set  before  her,  and,  being  absorbed 
in  conversation,  she  helped  herself  somewhat  absent- 
mindedly;  seeing,  however,  that  the  dish  wont  the 
round  of  the  table  without  being  touched  by  any 
of  those  present,  she  enquired  wliy  no  one  was 
eating. 

*'  'Madame,'  was  the  reply,  'it  is  because  of  the 
peculiar  odor  which  emanates  from  that  dish!' 

"The  Empress  started  and  said,  with  a  smile: 
'Ah!  and  you  were  going  to  let  me  cat  it!' 

"The   experiment  with   French   dishes   has   not, 

277 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

therefore,  proved  a  success,  and,  after  this  experi- 
ence, we  are  determined  that  chickens  and  other 
viands  of  local  breeding  only  shall  be  employed. 

''In  spite  of  her  desire  to  lead  a  very  simple, 
healthy  life,  adhering  strictly  to  the  regime  of  the 
place,  the  Empress  cannot  avoid  receiving  certain 
princely  visitors.  Queen  Sophie  of  the  Netherlands, 
on  her  way  to  Evian,  has  expressed  a  desire  to 
break  her  journey  for  a  few  hours  in  order  to  see 
the  Empress  whom  she  appears  to  be  fond  of,  and 
with  whom  she  has  kept  up  a  regular  correspon- 
dence. 

"The  King  of  Prussia  announced  his  visit  at  the 
same  time  as  the  Queen  of  Holland.  A  large  bunch 
of  roses  accompanied  the  message  by  which  'the 
King  of  Prussia  asked  to  be  allowed  to  pay  his  re- 
spects to  the  Comtesse  de  Pierref onds. '  He  was 
then  staying  at  Baden  with  his  daughter,  the  Grand 
Duchess  Louise.  It  was  impossible  for  the  Em- 
press, in  spite  of  the  strict  incognito  which  she  is 
maintaining,  to  refuse  to  receive  King  William.  So 
he  came.  On  this  occasion,  and  in  order  to  show 
his  respect  for  the  Empress's  desire  for  privacy, 
the  King  abandoned,  for  the  nonce,  his  uniform,  and 
put  on  ordinary  civilian  clothes,  wearing,  however — 
although  his  visit  took  place  during  the  daytime — 
the  cordon  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  under  his  coat. 
The  King's  courtesy  towards  women  is  well  known. 
With  the  Empress,  whom  he  admires  very  much,  as 
could  be  seen,  he  adopted  a  rather  paternal  tone 
which  was  permitted  by  his  greater  age.  A  double 
motive  is  attributed  to  his  visit." 

An  effort  was  made  by  the  German  official  world 
to  induce  the  Empress  to  waive  her  objections,  and 

278 


VISITS  TO  GERMANY  AND  EGYPT 

pay  some  visits  to  the  surrounding  princes.  Great 
importance  was  given  to  the  smallest  movements 
of  sovereigns  in  that  most  aristocratic  country,  and 
it  was  not  without  regret  she  was  informed  that  the 
Court  of  Berlin  witnessed  her  studied  avoidance 
of  all  compromising  intercourse  with  the  different 
members  of  the  royal  family  of  Prussia  during  the 
sojourn  across  the  Rhine.  It  was  doubtless  felt  that 
such  abstention,  though  justified  by  her  bad  state  of 
health,  and  the  events  then  occurring  in  the  duchies 
— Denmark  had  just  been  forced  by  Prussia  and 
Austria  to  renounce  Schleswig-Holstein  and  Lauen- 
burg — might  pass  in  the  eyes  of  Europe  as  a  token 
of  unfriendliness.  The  Prussians  desired  to  obtain 
the  absolute  neutrality  of  France  in  the  conflicts 
then  pending,  and  it  was  natural,  therefore,  that 
the  King  should  use  his  influence  to  obtain  Eugenie's 
consent  to  make  and  receive  a  few  important  visits. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  at  one  time  it  was  sug- 
gested that  France  should  intervene  in  favor  of 
Denmark.  Reasons  of  a  general  character  caused 
this  project  to  be  abandoned  and  France  was  forced 
to  adopt  a  diplomatic  course,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  all  her  sympathies  were  with  Denmark,  and  op- 
posed to  the  policy  by  which  the  three  duchies  were 
given  to  Prussia  and  Austria,  the  victorious  coun- 
tries. It  is  evident  that,  under  such  circumstances, 
the  Empress  felt  no  inclination  for  princely  visits 
which  could  only  be  painful  for  her,  and  could  in  no 
way  change  the  course  of  events.  The  King,  no 
doubt,  thought  that  l)y  liis  courteous  efforts  he  would 
overcome  this  reluctance  and  bring  about  a  meeting 
at  Baden  between  her  and  Queen  Augusta.  He 
urged  this,  but  the  Empress  declined  very  decidedly, 

279 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

alleging  as  a  sufficient  excuse  the  poor  state  of  her 
health,  and  the  doctors'  orders,  which  would  not 
allow  her  to  interrupt,  even  for  a  day,  the  course  of 
treatment  she  was  then  following.  So  the  King 
gave  the  matter  up,  without  showing  too  plainly  the 
disappointment  he  undoubtedly  felt. 

The  correspondent,  from  whom  citations  have  al- 
ready been  given,  continues  as  follows  the  record  of 
this  German  sojourn:  ''The  Empress  now  hopes 
she  has  done  with  visitors.  Entirely  engrossed  by 
her  course  of  treatment,  and  anxious  to  have  a  com- 
plete rest  from  politics,  she  takes  the  baths,  drinks 
the  waters,  scrupulously  walks  the  prescribed  dis- 
tances, and  makes  many  excursions  in  the  country 
round  about,  which  she  has  much  enjoyed.  Among 
other  places  the  Empress  has  visited  Schlangenbad, 
a  neighboring  spring  which  is  said  to  have  the  power 
of  giving  the  freshness  of  eternal  youth  to  the  skin. 
According  to  the  legend  still  prevalent  in  this  re- 
gion, the  water  owes  its  peculiar  properties  to  the 
eggs  which  are  deposited  in  its  bed  by  serpents.  As 
is  the  custom,  the  Empress  and  her  ladies  dipped 
their  hands  in  the  fountain.  For  a  moment,  they 
certainly  appeared  extraordinarily  white,  because 
of  the  transparent  nature  of  the  water ;  but  as  soon 
as  they  were  dry,  they  regained  their  former  ap- 
pearance, and  our  skin  appears  just  as  old  or  young, 
as  the  case  may  be,  as  it  did  before !  We  had  a  good 
laugh  over  this,  the  Empress  joining  in  heartily. 

''The  Empress  has  gone  very  little  to  Wiesbaden, 
because  of  the  great  crowd  of  visitors  there,  and 
also,  and  chiefly,  because  she  does  not  wish  to  be 
brought  face  to  face  with  princely  guests  whom  it 
would  there  be  impossible  to  avoid.     She  did  not 

280 


VISITS  TO  GERMANY  AND  EGYPT 

once  enter  the  Kurhaus,  but  waited  in  the  carriage 
while  Madame  de  la  Bedoyere  and  Madame  de  la 
Poeze,  who  had  expressed  the  wish  to  visit  the  gam- 
ing salons,  made  a  tour  of  inspection.  She  gave  a 
louis  to  her  lady-in-waiting,  in  order  that  she  might 
try  her  luck.  Mile.  Bouvet  placed  the  louis  on  the 
roulette  table  and  won  thirty-six  tunes  her  stake. 
She  did  not  wait  long  enough  to  see  her  luck  change, 
and  the  three  ladies  left  the  gaming  rooms  all  more 
or  less  affected  by  the  sights  they  had  witnessed 
there. 

''As  was  to  be  expected,  the  Duke  of  Nassau  has 
come  to  visit  the  Empress.  He  suggested  that  she 
should  walk  one  day  to  a  hunting  box,  not  very  far 
distant,  where  he  was  in  the  habit  of  going  to  stalk 
deer.  The  Empress  was  pleased  to  consent  and 
walked  to  La  Platte,  an  admirably  situated  spot 
from  which  a  magnificent  panorama  of  the  neighbor- 
ing country  is  to  be  had.  This  is  not  the  first  time 
the  Empress  has  visited  La  Platte.  She  saw  the 
spot  in  1849,  during  a  stay  at  Ems,  and  recollects 
the  occasion  very  clearly.  The  Duke  was,  of  course, 
at  the  hunting  box  with  all  his  suite  to  receive  her. 
During  her  stay  he  showed  her  the  register  of  18-49, 
where  the  name  of  Comtesse  de  Teba  was  found  side 
by  side  with  that  of  the  Comtesse  de  Montijo. 
Luncheon  had  been  prepared  in  the  quaintly  fur- 
nished dining-room  decorated  with  antlers  and  vari- 
ous skins.  The  Empress  says  she  will  long  retain 
a  vivid  recollection  of  this  excursion,  of  the  Duke's 
courteous  welcome,  the  picturesque  furniture,  and, 
above  all,  the  marvelous  panorama. 

"Often,  these  sumiuc]-  evenings,  the  windows  all 
open,  one  or  other  of  tiie  ladies  sits  at  the  i)iano, 

281 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

and  the  sound  of  the  sweet  music,  floating  through 
the  cool  air,  falls  on  the  ears  of  the  passers-by. 
The  other  evening,  Comtesse  de  la  Bedoyere,  who  is 
a  talented  musician,  was  playing  airs  from  Faust 
when  a  group  of  Tyroleans,  passing  through  the 
town,  stopped  and  asked  permission  to  play  for  us, 
*in  their  turn,'  as  they  said.  There  were  four  men 
and  one  woman.  For  an  hour  and  more  the  Em- 
press and  we  other  ladies  were  charmed  by  moun- 
tain airs  sung  by  very  pretty  voices  accompanied 
by  the  fascinating  Tyrolese  yodel.  When  the  sing- 
ing ceased,  it  was  agreed  that  the  musicians  should 
return  the  following  day. 

''Next  morning,  the  Comtesse  de  la  Poeze  entered 
Mile.  Bouvet's  room  in  great  haste  and  evidently 
much  upset. 

''  'I  am  afraid,'  said  she,  'that  something  dread- 
ful has  happened  during  the  night.  My  maid  heard 
screams  coming  from  the  Admiral's  room.  (The 
reference  is  to  x\dmiral  Jurien  de  la  Graviere,  aide- 
de-camp  to  the  Emperor,  who  is  in  the  Empress's 
suite.)  She  thinks  that  those  Italian  singers — no 
doubt  they  were  brigands — have  broken  into  his 
apartment  and  murdered  him.' 

''The  maid,  whose  room  was  over  that  occupied 
by  the  Admiral,  repeated  the  tale,  adding  many  de- 
tails. At  two  in  the  morning,  she  said,  she  heard 
noises  as  though  some  one  were  struggling,  and 
recognized  the  Admiral's  voice,  who  was  saying: 
'God,  take  thy  victims!' — whatever  that  meant. 
Very  much  alarmed,  but  hesitating  to  say  anything, 
lest  the  Empress  be  disturbed,  Madame  de  la  Poeze 
and  Mile.  Bouvet  determined  to  go  and  knock  at  the 
Admiral's  door. 

282 


VISITS  TO  GERMANY  AND  EGYPT 

*'  'What  is  the  matter?'  inquired  a  sleepy  voice. 

"  'Are  you  still  alive,  Admiral T  asked  the  ladies 
through  the  door. 

"  'Alive !    Wliy,  I  am  in  the  best  of  health.' 

"  'But  have  you  had  no  trouble?' 

"  'None.  What  nonsense  is  this?  I  have  slept 
soundly  all  through  the  night.    What  do  you  want?' 

"Thoroughly  satisfied  and  calmed,  the  ladies  told 
the  Empress  of  their  alarm  as  soon  as  she  awoke. 
She  thereupon  called  the  maid  and  questioned  her. 
The  woman  persisted  in  her  story;  declared  that  it 
was  a  deed  of  the  Tyroleans ;  that  the  Admiral  had 
most  certainly  been  murdered  and  that  she  had  very 
clearly  heard  the  last  words  he  uttered :  '  God,  take 
thy  victims ! ' 

"At  this  moment  the  gallant  officer  himself  ap- 
peared on  the  scone,  when  the  Empress,  laughing 
heartily,  asked  the  Admiral  to  give  an  explanation 
of  this  extraordinary  occurrence.  M.  Jurien  de  la 
Graviero,  somewhat  disconcerted  at  first,  eventually 
joined  in  the  general  mei'rimcnt  and  confessed  that 
he  was  subject  to  nightmare  and  was  no  doubt 
dreaming  when  he  cried  out  in  the  niglit.  The  Em- 
press and  her  ladies  have  keenly  enjoyed  the  little 
incident. 

"Two  Frenchmen  now  staying  at  Schwal])ach — • 
M.  Eremy,  President  of  the  Cn'dit  Fonder  IJank, 
and  Vicomt<'  l^e  Pic,  a  ialmted  paintei-  and  son  of 
one  of  the  J*]niperor's  aides-de-cani]) — liave  amused 
themselves  and  us  by  dressing  u])  as  T\  lolcans  and 
coming,  two  days  later,  to  sing  a  ])l;iintiv('  song  in 
which  all  the  events,  great  and  small,  which  have 
taken  place   at   Schwall)aeh   during  the  Empress's 

283 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

sojourn  here,  were  narrated;  and,  of  course,  the 
Admiral's  dream  was  not  omitted!" 

Further  evidence  was  given  during  this  visit  of 
the  high  place  then  held  in  European  politics  by  the 
Second  Empire.  Notwithstanding  the  Empress's 
desire  and  strenuous  efforts  to  maintain  her  incog- 
nito, it  soon  became  evident  that  it  would  be  impos- 
sible not  to  receive  other  princely  visitors  than  those 
already  mentioned.  So  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  then 
staying  at  Darmstadt  with  the  Empress  Marie  Alex- 
androvna,  courteously  came  to  Schwalbach  to  pay 
his  respects.  Next  came  the  Grand  Duke  of  Baden 
to  renew  the  request  of  the  royal  family  of  Prussia 
that  the  Empress  should  stop  at  Baden. 

In  view  of  the  cordial  welcome  and  hospitality 
given  her,  it  was  finally  considered  impossible  for 
the  Empress  to  persist  any  longer  in  the  determina- 
tion to  make  no  oflScial  visits  during  the  cure.  So, 
having  taken  the  advice  of  the  Emperor,  she  con- 
sented to  spend  a  few  hours  at  Baden.  The  Duchess 
of  Hamilton,  daughter  of  Grand  Duchess  Stephanie 
and  cousin  of  the  Emperor,  was  staying  at  her  castle 
in  Baden,  and  it  was  arranged  that  the  Empress 
should  go  there  and  pay  a  few  visits  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. 

The  journey  thither  was  made  as  quietly  as  possi- 
ble so  as  not  to  attract  attention  in  the  district  where 
at  that  moment  several  princes  were  staying.  The 
Empress  slept  at  Mannheim  in  order  that  her  ar- 
rival at  Baden  might  happen  at  a  convenient  hour. 
While  she  was  at  the  Mannheim  hotel,  a  telegram 
was  handed,  during  the  repast,  to  Comte  de  Cosse 
Brissac;  who,  so  as  not  to  betray  the  incognito, 
thought  better  to  refuse  it.    The  sequel  to  this  tele- 

284 


VISITS  TO  GERMANY  AND  EGYPT 

gram  incident  is  found  in  the  following  paragraph. 

The  party  left  Mannheim  for  Baden  in  traveling 
costume,  when  what  was  their  surprise  to  find  the 
station  of  Carlsruhe  filled  with  an  enormous  crowd 
— officers  in  uniform  and  military  bands  playing  La 
Reine  Hortense,  and  other  airs.  The  King  of  Prus- 
sia himself  advanced  to  the  carriage  door,  and  pre- 
sented the  Grand  Duke  of  Baden  to  the  Empress. 
The  King,  his  son-in-law  and  a  few  officers  then 
stepped  into  the  train,  which  continued  its  route. 
Much  astonished  at  this  unexpected  reception,  she 
inquired  how  it  was  that  she  had  not  been  informed 
beforehand,  so  that  she  could  have  been  in  better 
form  to  receive  these  honors.  The  King  replied  that 
he  had  sent  a  telegram  the  day  before  to  Comte  de 
Cosse  Brissac.  The  w^hole  thing  was  now  clear,  and 
all  had  quite  a  laugh  over  ''our  unnecessary  unpre- 
paredness,"  as  the  King  wittily  expressed  it. 

A  further  surprise  was  in  store  at  Baden.  When 
the  train  drew  up  in  the  station  profusely  decorated 
with  flowers  and  banners,  it  was  found  that  the 
Queen  of  Prussia  and  the  Grand  Duchess  of  Baden 
were  there  to  meet  the  Empress.  They  were  attired 
in  gala  dresses  which  contrasted  strangely  with  the 
simple  traveling  costume  of  Eugenie  and  the  ladies 
of  her  suite.  After  cordial  greetings,  they  drove  in 
the  Court  landaus  to  the  Duchess  of  Hamilton 's  pal- 
ace, where  it  was  arranged  that  the  Empress  should 
attend  the  grand  dinner  offered  that  same  evening 
in  her  honor  by  the  Grand  Duke  of  Baden,  wliicli  de- 
layed the  departure  until  the  following  morning. 

Eugenie  naturally  supposed  that  she  had  some 
hours  before  her  in  which  to  rest  after  the  jour- 
ney, which  had  been  fatiguing,  owing  to  the  heat. 

285 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

which  had  suddenly  returned,  and  to  the  unex- 
pected receptions  which  she  had  had  to  undergo. 
Her  boxes  had  not  been  opened,  and  she  was  in  her 
dressing  gown,  when  lo,  and  behold!  the  King  of 
Prussia  was  announced.  It  was  his  official  visit,  and 
so  it  was  impossible  not  to  receive  him,  while  it  was 
equally  impossible,  owing  to  Court  etiquette,  to 
make  him  w^ait.  So  the  Empress  was  forced  hastily 
to  put  on  again  her  traveling  costume,  a  black  silk 
skirt,  and  red  woolen  bodice,  over  which  she  threw 
a  sealskin  cloak  which  she  had  worn  that  morning 
and  in  which  she  was  nearly  suffocated  during  the 
conversation,  which  lasted  half  an  hour. 

As  soon  as  the  Empress  had  changed  her  costume, 
she  went  to  return  Queen  Augusta's  visit.  At  the 
palace  she  found  not  only  the  Queen,  but  the  Grand 
Duke  and  the  Grand  Duchess  of  Baden  and  all  the 
courtiers  gathered  together.  The  reception  was 
most  courteous,  and  the  Empress  was  the  object  of 
marked  attentions,  while  the  Countess  of  Lynar,  a 
lady  who  knew  her  Paris  well,  and  the  other  ladies 
of  the  Court,  which,  by  the  way,  seemed  more  than  a 
hundred  years  behind  the  rest  of  the  world,  were 
full  of  gracious  attentions  for  the  ladies  of  our 
party. 

After  visiting  the  points  of  interest  in  the  town, 
the  Empress  returned  to  change  her  gown  again, 
and  then  drove  to  the  summer  palace  of  the  Grand 
Duke  in  that  town,  then  frequented  by  the  most  ele- 
gant society  of  Europe.  After  a  sumptuous  repast 
there  was  some  music  and  Madame  Viardot,  whom 
the  Queen  of  Prussia  liked  to  attract  to  Baden,  sang 
before  the  sovereigns.  Eugenie  especially  appre- 
ciated this  attention,  for  this  celebrated  singer  was 

286 


VISITS  TO  GEEMANY  AND  EGYPT 

a  great  favorite  with  the  Emperor  and  our  whole 

court. 

A  kind  effort  was  made  to  keep  her  still  longer  at 
Baden,  but  the  Empress  had  to  decline,  her  excuse 
being  that  she  had  already  delayed  her  departure, 
through  that  night,  and  that  the  Imperial  train, 
which  had  come  to  meet  her,  was  waiting.  Queen 
Augusta  then  invited  the  Empress  to  come  and 
drink  coffee  with  her  before  starting,  and  this  final 
kind  invitation  was  accepted.  Next  morning,  at 
eight  o'clock  precisely,  the  Empress  reached  the 
Queen's  apartments,  where  breakfast  was  prepared. 
Every  one  was  in  full  dress.  That  morning  the 
Queen  wore  a  blue  taffeta  dress  trimmed  with  white 
lace  and  a  blue  hat  with  feathers,  w^hich  costume  was 
most  tasteful  and  left  an  impression  on  all.  As  this 
was  the  only  opportunity  Eugenie  ever  had  of  meet- 
ing Queen  Augusta,  who  never  came  to  France,  her 
w^ords,  acts,  and  appearance  on  this  occasion  were 
long  fresh  in  her  memory. 

The  Queen  of  Prussia  was  then  fifty  years  of  age. 
She  was  rather  tall,  had  blue  eyes,  and  features 
which  retained  much  grace,  though  she  had  a  rather 
weary  face.  Her  hair  was  dressed  in  wavy  ban- 
deaux which  had  been  fashionable  some  ten  or  fif- 
teen years  before,  and  wliich,  consequently,  gave  her 
a  somewhat  ancient  appearance.  She  was  a  very 
clever  woman,  spoke;  French  delightfully,  was  well 
acquainted  with  French  literature  and  was  some- 
what expansive  in  conversation.  She  was  almost 
tenderly  effusive  toAvard  the  Empress,  whom  she 
then  saw  for  the  first  time,  and  her  kind  words  and 
wishes  were  fully  returned.  In  a  word,  Eugenie 
was  peculiarly  attracted  to  the  Prussian  Queeu. 

287 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

The  correspondent  who  has  already  been  quoted, 
wrote  as  follows  concerning  the  Prussian  King  and 
Queen : 

**It  is  universally  known  that  the  royal  couple 
are  not  on  good  terms,  and  that  the  Queen  is  rarely 
with  the  King.  Notwithstanding  the  wish  of  their 
children  and  various  efforts  which  have  been  made 
to  bring  them  together,  they  live  much  estranged 
one  from  another.  This  sojourn  at  Baden  has  been 
one  of  the  rare  occasions  when  they  were  together. 
I  am  told  that  the  Queen  has  never  had  any  influence 
with  her  husband  and  holds  an  entirely  indepen- 
dent court,  which  is  more  intellectual  than  politL 
cal." 

To  the  end  of  her  life,  and  in  spite  of  her  infirmi- 
ties, the  Queen  of  Prussia  and  Empress  of  Ger- 
many retained  a  very  dignified  manner  and  showed 
at  all  times  extraordinary  energy  in  sustaining  the 
prerogatives  of  her  rank.  She  took  no  active  part 
in  the  political  events  of  her  day,  and,  though  wear- 
ing the  imperial  purple,  merely  looked  on  as  a  spec- 
tator. It  must  not  be  forgotten,  however,  that,  dur- 
ing the  War  of  1870,  she  showed  great  kindness  of 
heart  and,  in  spite  of  the  very  slight  influence  she 
had  with  the  military  and  political  party,  did  all  in 
her  power  to  alleviate  the  sufferings  of  the  French 
soldiers.  These  facts  the  Empress  always  kept  in 
memory,  so  that  she  has  ever  had  a  most  tender 
feeling  for  the  Empress  of  Germany.  But  how  lit- 
tle did  either  of  them  dream,  during  those  days  at 
Baden,  when  Queen  Augusta  and  her  daughter  vied 
with  one  another  in  showing  the  Empress  every 
kindness  and  attention,  of  the  terrible  tragedy  which 
was  so  shortly  to  startle  Europe. 

288 


VISITS  TO  GERMANY  AND  EGYPT 

One  final  instance  of  the  tender  attention  of  the 
Queen.  It  had  been  decided  that  the  train  would 
start  at  a  quarter  to  ten,  and  that  the  King  and  all 
the  Court  should  accompany  the  Empress  to  the 
carriage.  This  was  done;  but  this  was  not  all. 
When  the  latter  reached  Saint  Cloud,  she  found  a 
telegi'am  awaiting  her.  It  was  from  the  Queen  of 
Prussia  inquiring  for  news  of  the  journey,  and  in 
the  course  of  the  evening  a  second  telegram  arrived, 
this  time  from  the  Grand  Duchess  of  Baden,  with 
similar  inquiries  and  cordial  greetings.  Appro- 
priate answers  were,  of  course,  returned.  Again  I 
may  state  that  the  Empress  never  regretted  these 
early  cordial  relations  with  the  future  German  Em- 
press, but  always  felt  that  if  they  could  have  been 
cultivated,  something  might  have  been  done  to 
avert  the  conflict  which  tore  apart  the  two  nations. 

The  Suez  Canal  was  a  peculiarly  Napoleonic  un- 
dertaking. The  first  Emperor  would  have  begun  it 
if  he  had  not  been  deterred  by  a  mistake  of  one  of 
his  engineers  concerning  the  level  of  the  Red  Sea. 
Ferdinand  de  Lesseps,  whose  energy  finally  carried 
the  enterprise  to  success,  was  a  relative  of  the  Em- 
press, and  Napoleon  III  lent  all  the  aid  which  his 
high  position  could  give  to  remove  various  diplo- 
matic and  political  difficulties  which  arose  from  time 
to  time  during  the  progress  of  this  gigantic  work 
and  which  more  than  once  threatened  its  consum- 
mation. It  was  in  every  way  fitting,  therefore,  when 
the  great  task  was  successfully  accomplished,  that 
the  French  Government  should  take  a  leading  part 
in  the  ceremonies  of  the  inauguration. 

On  November  16,  1869,  the  eve  of  the  day  set  for 
the  opening  of  the  canal,  the  Imperial  yacht,  Aigle, 

289 


MEMOIRS  OP  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

escorted  by  several  warships^  was  majestically  ad- 
vancing towards  Port-Said.  The  Empress  was  on 
board  and  next  day  she  was  to  preside  at  the  in- 
augural ceremony.  The  Emperor  had  informed  the 
French  Parliament  that  it  was  his  ''desire  that,  by 
her  presence,  the  Empress  should  boar  witness  to 
the  interest  felt  by  France  in  a  work  due  to  the  per- 
severance and  g'cnius  of  a  Frenchman."  This  was 
the  reason  why  she  was  given  this  peculiar  and  im- 
portant mission. 

The  P]mpress  was  accompanied  on  this  grand  voy- 
age by  a  numerous  and  brilliant  suite,  and  was 
everywhere  received  and  treated  as  a  sovereign  not 
only  of  France,  but  of  Europe.  She  always  retained 
the  most  vivid  recollection  of  this  memorable  voy- 
age. In  1905  she  revisited  the  spot  where  she  had 
been  so  triumphantly  welcomed  over  thirty-five 
years  before;  and  when,  on  board  the  Macedonia, 
the  shores  of  Egypt  were  first  seen  silhouetted 
against  the  horizon,  so  strong  was  the  emotion  which 
the  Empress  felt  that  for  a  moment  tears  came  into 
her  eyes,  so  touching  was  the  vision  which  had  sud- 
denly rushed  back  on  her,  by  a  swift  trick  of  mem- 
ory, like  a  radiant  transformation  scene. 

At  Constantinople,  where  the  Empress  went  first 
to  visit  the  Sultan,  suzeraiii  of  the  Khedive,  the  re- 
ception was  exti\aordinarily  magnificent.  The  Turk- 
ish ruler  had  spared  none  of  the  magic  power  of 
Oriental  pomp  to  render  the  receptions  more  effec- 
tive, and  the  impression  produced  on  the  imagina- 
tion of  the  Ottoman  population  by  the  presence 
among  them  of  a  crowned  woman,  an  unheard-of 
event  in  the  annals  of  Islam,  Was  said  to  have  sur- 
passed all  that  can  be  imagined.    When  the  Empress 

290 


VISITS  TO  GERMANY  AND  EGYPT 

was  told  of  this  fact,  by  one  of  the  ministers,  she 
remarked:  "I  trust  I  have  been  worthy  of  my  sex 
and  have  been  no  discredit,  in  the  eyes  of  these  good 
people,  to  the  crowned  heads  of  the  stronger  sex." 
He  very  politely  assured  her  that  she  "almost 
equaled  the  Sultan!" 

^  On  the  first  approach  of  the  Aigle,  an  entire  fleet 
of  ships,  decked  with  flags,  came  out  to  meet  the 
Empress.  An  enormous  crowd  covered  the  two 
shores  of  the  Bosphorus,  while  the  fire  of  thirty  bat- 
teries announced  our  arrival.  Finally  the  Aigle 
dropped  ^nchpr  in  front  of  the  palace  of  J3eyler-bey, 
when  a  row--.b£)at,  surmounted  by  a  red  dais  of  vel- 
vet, embroidered  in  gold,  left  the  quay  and  came 
rapidly  forward,  and  the  Empress  soon  perceived 
that  the  Sultan  himself  had  come  to  fetch  her  and 
to  escort  her  with  solemn  pomp  to  the  palace. 

The  Turkish  sovereign  desired  to  show  every  sign 
of  courtesy,  respect,  thought  and  attention  and  even 
wished  to  kiss  the  Empress's  hand,  an  unheard-of 
thing,  I  am  told,  on  the  part  of  the  Commander  of 
the  Faithful.  But,  out  of  respect  for  Mussulman 
customs  and  feelings,  she  discreetly  declined  to  al- 
low this  mark  of  homage  to  be  paid  to  her,  and 
warmly  thanked  the  Sultan  for  his  many  kindnesses. 
Slie  then  told  him  how  deeply  pleased  she  was  with 
all  the  beautiful  sights  that  had  met  her  eyes  since 
her  arrival  in  Turkish  watci'S. 

After  paying  tlio  Sultuna  Valide  a  visit  which  slie 
returned  the  following  day,  the  Emjjress  witnessed, 
seated  in  a  vast  stand  hung  with  velvet  and  ch)th 
whose  hue  was  that  of  the  I'^rencli  C()h)rs,  a  review 
of  twenty-two  thousand  soldiers.  Thongh  she  had 
seen  many  of  the  finest  troops  of  Christian  Europe, 

291 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

there  was  a  certain  originality,  wildness  and  dash 
about  these  Turkish  soldiers  that  charmed  her  and 
the  memory  of  which  always  remained  with  her. 

In  the  evening,  the  Bosphorus  was  illuminated, 
and  the  palaces,  public  buildings,  kiosks  and  ships 
of  the  imperial  marine  all  shone  with  multicolored 
lights.  Everything  appeared  to  be  aflame,  from  the 
Arsenal  to  Therapia.  The  beautiful  night,  and  the 
calm  sea  under  a  starlit  sky  gave  the  already  mar- 
velous scenery  an  indescribable  grandeur  and 
awakened  feelings  of  the  most  emotional  nature.  It 
was  one  of  the  Arabian  nights  brought  into  a  burn- 
ing and  magnificent  reality.  Delighted  with  what 
she  beheld,  the  Empress  repeatedly  expressed  her 
pleasure  and  thanks,  and,  at  the  same  time,  her  re- 
gret that  the  Emperor  and  Prince  Imperial  could 
not  be  present  at  these  unforgettable  scenes  in  which 
France  was  glorified  in  the  person  of  her  sovereign. 
From  that  day  on  the  Empress  always  enjoyed  a 
visit  to  the  far  eastern  end  of  the  Mediterranean, 
and  in  those  waters  many  of  the  happiest  days  of 
her  later  life  were  spent. 

All  these  Turkish  festivities  paled,  however,  be- 
fore those  that  awaited  her  in  Egypt.  The  inaugura- 
tion of  the  Suez  Canal  was  for  France  a  real 
triumph  in  the  eyes  of  the  whole  civilized  world — 
almost  an  apotheosis.  Surrounded  by  the  Emperor 
of  Austria,  the  Prince  Royal  of  Prussia,  the  Prince 
and  Princess  of  the  Netherlands,  Emir  Abd-el- 
Kader,  M.  Ferdinand  de  Lesseps,  and  a  host  of  other 
celebrities,  the  Empress  presided  that  day,  in  the 
name  of  France  and  in  the  presence  of  the  nations, 
at  the  solemn  consecration  of  the  greatest  engineer- 
ing enterprise  of  the  century.    France  had  morally 

292 


1\  .' 

VISITS  TO   GERMANY  AND  EGYPT    '"'''' 

and  pecuniarily  supported  the  project  of  M.  de  Les- 
seps,  so  wo  have  good  ground  to  be  proud.  Perhaps 
it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  it  was  due  in  part  to 
Eugenie's  influence  and  to  her  perseverance  in  aid- 
ing M.  de  Lesseps,  whose  grand  project  she  admired 
from  the  very  first,  that  the  canal  was  finally  fin- 
ished. M.  de  Lesseps  was  in  the  habit  of  making 
this  statement  much  stronger. 

The  great  engineer  and  diplomat  has  written  the 
following  words  which  I  may  be  allowed  to  give 
here,  especially  as  I  do  not  think  they  have  ever 
been  printed  before:  "The  Empress,  has  claimed 
no  part  in  the  work  now  accomplished;  but  her  pres- 
ence at  the  ceremony  was  so  natural  that  it  was  the 
fit  consecration  of  the  conduct  she  had  hitherto  ob- 
served.) Every  one  agreed  to  show  the  Empress 
something  more  than  a  respectful  homage  and  defer- 
ence; there  was  in  it  a  tribute  of  gratitude  the  real 
significance  of  which  could  escape  no  one's  atten- 
tion. In  the  midst  of  a' dazzling  vision  sparkling 
with  shimmering  Oriental  and  African  costumes, 
mingled  with  Western  uniforms,  Circassian  and 
Hungarian  magnates,  mufties  in  green  caftans,  and 
officers  of  the  Indian  army,  the  French  sovereign 
was  the  cynosure  of  all  eyes.  Not  one  minute  did 
she  dream  of  priding  herself  unduly  on  all  this  hom- 
age. She  was  only  desirous  that  the  woman  should 
not  efface  the  sovereign,  and  wished  it  to  be  felt 
that  all  this  incense  and  honor  was  offered  to  the 
Empress  simply  as  representing  at  one  and  the 
same  time  a  great  country  and  the  triumph  of  civil- 
ization." 

Before  the  blessing  of  the  canal  was  performed 
by  the  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  Mgr.  Bauer,  the  fash- 

293 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

ionable  prelate  of  the  epoch,  pronounced  an  elo- 
quent discourse.  To  the  Empress  who  found  it 
difficult  to  hide  her  emotion,  the  eloquent  priest  ad- 
dressed the  following  words,  which  she,  of  course, 
felt  w^ere  much  too  flattering,  but  which  are  given 
here  as  a  good  example  of  the  excessive  homage  paid 
her  and,  through  her,  to  France,  on  this  occasion : 

"Those  who  have  coojDerated  in  an  intimate  man- 
ner in  this  great  enterprise,  know  the  part  your 
Majesty  has  played  therein,  and  know  that  that  part 
is  largo.  But  it  is  your  custom  to  do  the  most  im- 
portant things  in  silence.  However,  it  is  necessary 
that  history  should  register  the  fact  that  this  tre- 
mendous v/ork  is  to  a  very  great  extent  yours;  and 
history,  in  saying  this,  will  speak  only  the  bare 
truth.  But  history  will  add  that,  in  lending  your  in- 
fluence to  this  enterprise,  this  Canal  of  the  Two 
Worlds,  you  have  been  in  closest  communion  of 
thought  and  sympathy  with  the  whole  of  France, 
which  has  ever  approved  of  this  grand  work,  with 
that  generous  and  noble  France  which,  in  every  class 
of  society,  has  been  enthusiastic  in  wishing  well  for 
the  Suez  Canal,  and  prodigal  in  lending  its  millions, 
its  arms,  its  engineers,  its  machiner}-;  with  that 
France,  I  sa}',  which  has,  so  to  speak,  identified  itself 
with  one  of  its  sons  so  providentially  gifted  by  per- 
suasive and  simple  eloquence  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  this  prodigious  undertaking." 

The  following  day  the  flotilla  which  carried  the 
Princes  started,  with  the  Aigle  at  its  head,  to  at- 
tempt for  the  first  time  the  passage  henceforth  to 
be  opened  to  the  commerce  of  the  entire  world.  But 
an  unfortunate  accident  delayed  the  departure.  An 
Egyptian  advice-boat,  sent  oft"  ahead,  got  stuck  in 

294 


VISITS  TO  GERMANY  AND  EGYPT       '  ' 

the  sand  and  interrupted  the  navigation.  Informed 
of  this  fact,  the  Khedive  flew  into  a  terrible  passion ; 
but  M.  de  Lesseps,  informed  of  the  matter,  gave 
this  order,  with  his  customary  imperturbable  se- 
renity: ''We  must  either  get  the  boat  off  the  sand, 
which  is  not  impossible,  or  set  fire  to  it,  or  blow  it 
up."  The  first  method  having  fortunately  succeed- 
ed, there  was  but  a  slight  delay,  and  two  hours  later 
the  line  got  under  way  again,  the  boat  firing  a  sig- 
nal to  this  effect. 

The  Empress  knew  nothing  of  this  mishap,  so  that 
when  she  heard  this  round  of  cannon  shots  coming 
from  the  unlucky  boat  shunted  into  one  of  tlie  canal 
stations,  she  imagined  that  the  Viceroy  had  shown 
the  delicate  attention  of  anchoring  one  of  his  gun- 
boats there  to  do  her  honor.  She  so  informed  ]\[. 
de  Lesseps,  who  explained  the  real  case,  whereupon 
it  is  said  that  she  remarked:  "AVell,  you  see  I 
am  disposed  to  give  the  Khedive  the  benefit  of  the 
doubt.  We  are  treated  with  so  many  honors  that 
it  would  not  take  much  to  make  me  believe  that  the 
thunder  and  lightning  are  a  part  of  the  fete." 

A  few  minutes  later  M.  de  Lesseps  presented  to 
the  Empress  his  young  fiancee,  i\llle.  de  J^ragand. 
Notwithstanding  the  difference  in  age  between  this 
young  girl  and  M.  de  Lesseps,  who  was  just  sixty, 
Eugenie  did  not  hesitate,  after  a  chat  with  lier,  to 
compliment  J\I.  de  Ijesseps  on  his  choice  and  inform 
him  that  she  well  understood  liis  detcriniiialioii  1o 
wed  her.  "Now  that  the  canal  is  finished,  you  have 
earned  the  right  to  retire  to  the  honie-eireh'."  "iiiit 
some  of  my  quidnunc  fi'icnds  assure  me,"  answc^red 
the  Count,  "that  it  is  easier  to  dig  a  canal  than  to 

295 


MEMOIKS  OF  THE~  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

live  happily  with  a  young  wife ;  but  I  believe  I  can 
do  both."    And  he  did. 

Ismailis,  an  improvised  town  set  up  in  the  open 
air  and  full  of  people  of  all  countries,  seemed  like 
fairyland  as  the  Imperial  party  approached  it.  Here 
dromedaries  were  mounted  in  order  to  review  the 
cavalcade  of  troops  and  the  Bedouins'  fantasia.  Some 
hundreds  of  horsemen,  with  their  burnoose  flying 
in  the  wind,  handled  their  vigorous  and  agile  ani- 
mals with  a  marvelous  dexterity  and  waved  thoir 
long  carbines  in  the  air,  firing  as  they  flew  past. 
Standing  up  straight  in  their  stirrups,  they  threw 
themselves  into  the  -course  with  the  swiftness  of 
lightning  and  executed  clever  evolutions  in  the  midst 
of  clouds  of  dust  and  smoke  from  their  fire-arms. 
Other  Arabs,  erect  on  their  fine,  richly  caparisoned 
dromedaries,  also  took  part  in  these  fantastic  exer- 
cises and  sent  their  djerrids  flying  to  a  great  dis- 
tance, the  javelinlike  arm,  with  its  blunt  point,  re- 
bounding from  shields  of  buffalo  skin.  The  sound 
of  the  rifles  and  the  cries  of  joy  from  an  enthusiastic 
crowd  added  to  the  animation  of  this  picturesque 
spectacle  and  all  repeatedly  expressed  their  won- 
der and  interest. 

Before  the  ball  in  the  evening  there  was  a  visit 
to  the  dervishes — howling  and  whirling  dervishes; 
some,  holding  between  their  teeth  a  burning  coal  or 
a  red-hot  iron,  turning  on  their  heels  with  a  star- 
tling rapidity,  others  working  themselves  up  into 
fearful  convulsions  or  thrusting  into  their  ears, 
their  tongues  and  other  parts  of  the  body,  sharp  in- 
struments, until  they  succumbed  under  the  fatigue 
or  the  pain ;  others  chewing  cactus  leaves,  or  eating 
live  serpents  and  scorpions.  All  this  was  viewed  with 

296 


VISITS  TO  GERMANY  AND  EGYPT 

more  or  less  revulsion  and  some,  with  morbid  curi- 
osity. Of  most  interest  to  the  Empress,  were 
their  religious  exercises,  which  appear  to  consist 
chiefly  in  the  recital  of  zikrs.  Seated  or  standing, 
they  form  a  circle,  and  then  sing  or  scream  out  the 
''illalla,"  '^llalah,"  until  their  strength  is  spent. 
They  accompany  this  wild  song  with  movements  of 
the  body,  and  throw  their  heads  forwards  and  back- 
wards, and  from  right  to  left.  One  of  them  goes 
into  the  middle  of  the  circle  and  dances,  with  verti- 
ginous rapidity,  a  sort  of  two-step  valse,  ceasing 
only  when  he  is  utterly  worn  out  and  groaning  with 
fatigue.  He  is  then  immediately  replaced  by  an- 
other who  does  the  same  thing.  These  fakir  rites 
are  now  well  known  in  the  West;  but  at  the  time  of 
her  visit  to  Egypt  this  was  not  the  case,  and  these 
strange  ceremonies  made  a  deep  impression  on 
Eugenie  that  has  never  worn  off. 

Bengal  lights  of  many  colors  played  a  prominent 
part  at  the  ball  given  at  the  Viceroy's  palace, 
which  striking  edifice  was  built,  furnished  and 
surrounded  with  flower-gardens  all  in  less  than  six- 
months.  There  was  present  a  great  crowd  bedecked 
with  orders  of  all  kinds,  the  rich  costumes  of  tlie 
sheiks  in  great  caftans  with  ornamented  belts  of 
gold  and  precious  stones  giving  a  peculiar  stamp  lo 
the  variegated  scene  whicli  was  not  soon  to  be  for- 
gotten. The  Empress  walked  several  times  round 
the  ball-rooms  with  the  sovereigns  and  princes,  and 
was  in  no  haste  to  depart;  for  never  before  liad  she 
seen  such  a  curious  sight  and  seldom  since;  and 
when,  at  one  o'clock,  a  fairylike  supper  was  served, 
she  warmly  congratulated  the  Khedive  on  the  artis- 
tic success  of  the  really  superb  fete. 

297 


MEMOIES  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

Next  day  there  was  a  visit  to  Suez.  At  this  point, 
M,  Rioii,  the  draftsmaPx  of  the  Paris  Illustration, 
who  had  made  the  drawings  of  the  different  parts  of 
the  canal,  offered  the  Empress  an  album  filled  with 
excellent  water-color  pictures.  She  carefully  pre- 
served this  rare  volume,  as  it  brought  back  to  her 
so  vividly  this  memorable  voyage ;  but  unfortunately 
it  was  destroyed  in  the  Tuileries  fire  in  1871. 

On  Saturday,  the  20th,  the  boats  of  the  different 
sovereigns  and  princes  arrived  at  Suez.  Cannon 
were  fired  to  salute  their  appearance,  and  the  scene 
again  became  truly  wonderful.  All  the  ships  were 
drawn  up  in  a  line  of  battle  while  the  magnificent 
harbor,  admirably  lighted,  was  framed  at  the  far 
end  by  high  mountains  elegantly  silhouetted  against 
the  sky.  The  Eed  Sea  was  calm,  and  myriads  of 
little  fish  swam  between  the  various  craft.  The 
Empress  spent  a  long  time  drinking  in  this  beauti- 
ful scene  from  the  deck  of  her  yacht.  "Your  maj- 
esty is  evidently  charmed  by  this  view^,"  remarked 
the  Khedive.  "I  am,  indeed,"  she  replied.  "M.  de 
Lesseps  says  this  alone  was  worth  making  the  canal 
for,"  added  Ismail.  "I  fully  share  his  opinion," 
Eugenie  answered  full  of  enthusiasm. 

Another  ball  was  to  be  given  at  Cairo  in  honor  of 
the  foreign  sovereigns,  but  the  Empress  could  not 
be  present  on  that  occasion.  After  visiting  Sakka- 
rah,  the  Serapeum  and  the  granitic  curiosities  there, 
she  decided  to  make  a  trip  up  the  Nile,  which  had 
always  been  one  of  her  fondest  dreams,  and  whence, 
on  November  27,  she  vs-rote  to  Napoleon  a  letter 
which  has  never  been  given  exactly  and  which  may 
be  found  interesting: 

298 


VISITS  TO  GERMANY  AND  EGYPT  \  ,^, 

My  very  dear  Louis  :  '■^'^ '' "  r,  o   • 

I  write  tliis  on  my  way  to  Assouan  on  the  Nile.  To  say  we  feel 
cool  would  not  be  absolutely  true,  but  the  heat  is  quite  bearable, 
for  there  is  some  breeze,  though  in  the  sun  it  is  a  different  matter. 
I  have  news  of  you  aud  of  Louis  every  day  by  telegram.  This 
is  marvelous  and  very  precious  to  me,  and  I  am  always  held  to 
the  friendly  shore  by  that  wire  which  unites  me  to  all  I  love. 

I  am  delighted  with  our  charming  voyage.  I  would  like  to 
describe  it  to  you,  but  many  others  more  clever  and  better  with 
their  pens  than  I  am,  have  undertaken  that  task;  so  it  seems  I 
bad  best  wrap  myself  up  in  mute  admiration. 

The  letter  then  toiiclies  on  current  French  politics 
which  were  very  stormy  at  this  moment,  and  con- 
tinues : 

I  was  much  tormented  by  yesterday's  events  and  to  know  that 
you  are  in  Paris  without  me;  but  all  has  passed  oK  well  as  I         ]\ 
learn  by  your  wire.     "When  one  sees  other  peoples,  one  appreci-  ■•  ^ ' 

ates  better  the  injustice  of  our  own.  I  think,  nevertheless,  one 
should  not  be  disheartened,  but  walk  forward  in  the  way  you  have 
opened  up;  faith  in  the  concessions  which  have  been  granted  is, 
as  we  think  and  say,  a  good  thing;  I  therefore  hope  that  your 
speech  before  the  Chambers  will  be  couched  in  that  sense;  the 
greater  the  need  of  strength  in  the  future,  the  more  necessary  it  is  x 

to  sliov/  the  country  that  one  has  ideas  and  not  mere  devices.  I 
am  very  far  off  aiu]  very  ignorant  of  things  since  my  dejiarlure 
to  speak  thus,  but  I  am  hriiily  convinced  that  continuity  of  ideas 
is  true  force;  I  do  not  like  sudden  jumjjs  and  am  coiivinced  that 
one  cannot  bring  about  two  coups  d'etat  in  the  same  reign.  I  am 
talking  at  random,  for  I  am  })reaching  to  one  who  knows  more  on 
this  subject  than  I  do.  But  I  must  say  sometliiug  if  only  to  prove 
what  you  well  know — that  my  hoai't  is  near  you  both,  and  if  in  , 

days  of  calm  my  vagabond  s])iril  hjvcs  to  n)am  in  space,  it  is  near 
you  two  tliat  I  like  to  bo  on  days  of  anxiety  aud  worry. 

Far  from  men  and  things  one  breathes  a  serenity  which  is 
beneficial  to  body  and  spirit:  and  by  an  effort  of  the  iinairination 
I  fancy  that  all  is  well  with  you  because  1  know  nothing  a])out 
what  is  going  on.  Amuse  yourself.  I  tliink  disti'actions  are  in- 
dispensable, for  one  must  buihl  uj)  one's  moral  fabric  just  as  one 

299 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

builds  up  an  enfeebled  constitution.  Certainly  thinking  about 
one  thing  ends  by  wearing  out  the  best  organized  brain,  I  have 
experienced  this,  and  I  now  dismiss  from  memory  all  that  which 
in  the  past  has  tarnished  the  fine  colors  of  my  day-dreams.  My 
own  life  is  finished ;  but  I  live  again  in  my  son  and  I  hold  those  as 
real  joys  which  pass  through  his  heart  to  mine. 

Meanwhile,  I  enjoy  my  trip,  the  sunsets,  and  this  wild  yet 
cultivated  nature  on  a  space  fifty  yards  wide  along  the  banks, 
behind  which  is  the  desert  with  its  sand  hills,  and  the  whole 
lighted  up  by  an  ardent  sun. 

Good-by,  and  always  believe  in  the  affection  of  your  very 
devoted 

EUGI^NIB. 

Soon  after  penning  this  letter,  the  Empress  re- 
turned to  France,  where  she  found  that  the  small 
black  clouds,  which  had  grown  during  her  absence, 
were  about  to  burst  and  one  of  the  heaviest  poli- 
tical storms  that  Europe  has  known  was  on  the  point 
of  breaking  over  Germany  and  her  adopted  country. 
The  high  respect  shown  for  France  by  all  the  official 
world  during  this  eastern  tour  strengthened  the 
Empress  in  her  efforts  to  do  all  in  her  power  to 
avert  the  catastrophe;  and  when,  in  after  years, 
she  looked  back  on  this  period,  Eugenie  al- 
ways felt  that  the  conflict  of  1870  should  never  have 
occurred  and  could  never  have  occurred  if  the  pas- 
sion to  *' unify  Germany"  had  not  became  a  ''fixed 
idea"  in  the  brain  of  a  little  group  of  high-handed 
statesmen  on  the  other  side  of  the  Rhine.  ''The 
peace  of  the  East"  w^ould  have  continued  to  prevail 
in  the  West  if  it  had  not  been  for  these  Teutonic 
perturbators. 


CHAPTER  Xn 

COURT  LIFE  DURING  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE 

Since  the  end  of  the  Restoration  in  1830  down  to 
the  advent  of  the  Second  Empire  in  1852,  that  is,  for 
a  period  of  over  twenty  years,  there  may  be  said  to 
have  been  in  France  no  such  thing  as  Court  l^ife  in 
the  full  meaning  of  the  term.  Louis  Philippe  prided 
himself  on  being  the  Citizen  King  and  great  sim- 
plicity reigned  at  the  Tuileries.  But  the  Emperor 
Napoleon  knew  how  the  French  character  liked  court 
ceremonies  and  how  advantageous  it  would  bo  to 
the  Paris  trades  people  if  fashion  and  wealth  were 
given  an  opportunity  to  assert  themselves.  So  one 
of  his  first  acts  on  becoming  Emperor  was  to  give  as 
rich  a  stamp  as  possible  to  the  Court  life  of  the  new 
government,  and  in  these  efforts  the  Empress  did  all 
in  her  power  to  second  him. 

In  1869,  only  a  few  months  before  the  opening  of 
the  Suez  Canal,  in  the  execution  of  which  work  the 
personal  intervention  of  the  Emperor,  as  we  saw  in 
the  last  chapter,  had  had  such  great  weight,  there 
was  no  favor  which  the  Emperor  was  not  ready  to 
grant  to  the  Khedive  Ismail  and  his  sou  Ihissciu 
Pacha,  who  was  then  studying  in  France.  In  tlic 
summer  of  that  year,  the  latter  came  to  spend  a 
month  at  Saint  Cloud,  accompanied  by  iiis  governor, 
Major  de  Castex,  who  later  became  (ioneral  do  Cas- 
tex.  The  attentions  paid  this  young  man  will  give  a 

.301 


MEMOIES  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

fair  idea  of  a  certain  amiable  side  of  court  life  under 
the  Second  Empire. 

At  first,  the  entire  change  of  life  and  habits  some- 
what disconcerted  the  Egyptian  prince;  but  the 
cordial  welcome  he  received  from  the  Emperor  and 
the  Empress,  and  also  from  the  Prince  Imperial, 
whose  games  he  shared  at  the  Tuileries,  speedily  put 
him  at  his  ease  and  made  him  feel  quite  at  home  in 
the  court  circle.  Of  middle  height,  olive  complexion, 
with  fine  black  eyes  and  a  good  figure,  speaking 
French  very  correctly,  affable  when  not  overcome  by 
shyness,  Prince  Hussein  was  charming  at  the  age  of 
sixteen  or  seventeen.  Since  then,  he  has  become  a 
man  of  intellectual  parts  whom  all  the  capitals  of 
Europe  have  learned  to  appreciate ;  and  now  hardly 
a  year  passes  that  he  does  not  spend  some  months  in 
Germany,  but  especially  in  England  and  in  France, 
where  he  has  numerous  friends,  and  where  he  com- 
mands respect  and  admiration  of  all  intelligent 
circles. 

From  the  moment  the  young  Prince  set  foot  in 
Saint  Cloud,  in  that  summer,  of  some  forty  years 
ago,  every  effort  was  made  to  interest  him  in  things 
that  would  improve  his  heart  and  mind.  The  conver- 
sation constantly  turned  on  Eg}^t,  and  he  was  con- 
stantly consulted  as  to  the  program  of  the  voyage 
which  the  Empress  was  about  to  undertake.  He  fully 
appreciated  the  compliment,  was  most  charming  and 
'*  pleased  every  one  infinitely  by  his  good  manners 
and  graciousness,"  as  the  Emperor  said  to  his 
father.  He  saw  the  Prince  Imperial,  who  was  then 
thirteen,  several  times  each  day,  and  the  two  boys 
became  fast  friends.  They  rode  together  under  the 
vigilant  eye  of  M.  Baehon,  the  Prince's  riding  mas- 

302 


COURT  LIFE  DURING  THE  EMPIRE 

ter;  they  walked  together  or  amused  themselves  at 
the  gymnasium  in  the  private  park  or  at  games  in 
the  Trocadero  garden,  accompanied  by  the  faithful 
Conneau,  and,  on  certain  days,  they  enjoyed  the 
society  of  some  of  the  Prince  Imperial's  other  com- 
panions— the  young  Due  de  Huescar,  son  of  the  Due 
d'Albe,  Jules  Espinasse,  son  of  the  General,  and  the 
sons  of  Baron  Corvisart,  my  brother  and  me.  It 
was  always,  by  the  way,  one  of  Eugenie's  principal 
worries  to  find  suitable  playmates  for  her  son. 

After  the  birth  of  the  Prince  Imperial,  until  the 
end  of  the  Second  Empire,  care  for  his  health, 
anxiety  when  he  was  absent  from  the  palace  or  from 
Paris  and  a  general  regard  for  his  interests  and 
welfare  largely  modified  in  fact  the  spirit  of  Court 
life,  especially  as  concerned  the  Emperor  and  the 
Empress.  They  could  never  forget  for  a  moment 
how  precious  was  the  life  of  this  child  both  to  them 
and  to  the  regime  which  they  had  reestablished  with 
so  much  effort  and  sacrifice.  Let  me  give  one 
example  of  this  excessive  care  which  they  had  to 
exercise  over  everything  that  concerned  the  Prince 
Imperial.   And  how  well  I  remember  the  incident ! 

In  1865,  Mile.  Robin,  a  charming  young  girl,  was 
taken  with  a  rash  just  before  one  of  the  Tuileries 
balls.  She  pleaded  with  her  mother  to  let  her  attend 
notwithstanding  this  sign  of  danger  of  some  sort. 
She  was  a  fine  dancer,  and  the  Prince  Imperial  was 
very  attentive  to  her  that  evening.  When  she  re- 
turned home  after  a  pretty  vigorous  evening  of 
waltzing,  she  was  taken  ill  and  the  physicians  soon 
saw  that  she  had  the  measles.  The  disease  struck  in 
and  in  forty-eight  hours  the  poor  child  was  dead. 

303 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

We  were  all  much  afflicted  at  the  news ;  but  that  was 
not  the  end  of  our  sorrows. 

Measles  was  epidemic  at  that  moment  at  Paris  and 
was  very  virulent.  New  and  dangerous  cases  were 
constantly  reported.  The  Prince  Imperial  was  soon 
down  with  it,  and  the  doctors  of  the  Court  all  said  he 
had  caught  it  from  the  unfortunate  Mile.  Robin. 
When  he  was  supposed  to  have  recovered,  it  was 
considered  desirable,  in  order  to  help  disperse  the 
fears  then  rife  in  Paris,  both  concerning  the  epi- 
demic in  general  and  the  attack  which  the  Prince  had 
just  undergone,  that  he  should  appear  in  public.  So 
on  March  16th,  which  was  his  birthday,  he  was  per- 
mitted to  drive  out.  The  Empress  felt  very  uneasy 
about  this,  but  she  did  not  like  to  interfere,  es- 
pecially as  the  Emperor  was  disposed  to  twit  her  a 
bit  about  her  "apron-string"  treatment  of  their  dear 
boy.  But  they  soon  saw  that  he  had  gone  out  too  soon 
after  his  convalescence.  Although  the  day  was  fine, 
it  was  very  cold  for  the  season  and  the  Prince  was 
not  benefited  by  the  outing.  Quite  the  contrary.  On 
his  return  to  the  palace,  he  had  a  chill  and  was  many 
days  in  recovering.  In  fact,  he  did  not  shake  otf  the 
result  of  this  illness  for  many  months  afterwards ; 
and  during  this  time,  his  condition  made  many  mod- 
ifications in  the  whole  social  and  public  life  of  the 
Court. 

But  to  return  to  our  Egyptian  friends,  at  the  be- 
ginning of  July,  1869,  the  Khedive  Ismail  himself 
came  to  officially  invite  the  Empress  to  the  festivi- 
ties of  the  opening  of  the  Canal.  The  fete  given  in 
his  honor  was  veiy  magnificent.  For  the  first  and 
last  time  the  gardens  were  illuminated  with  electric 
lights,  by  means  of  two  batteries  placed  in  the  win- 

304 


COURT  LIFE  DURING  THE  EMPIRE 

dows  of  the  upper  floors  of  the  castle.  Splendid  fire- 
works were  set  off  and  the  park  was  thrown  open 
in  order  that  the  public  might  better  enjoy  the  sight. 
The  Prince  Imperial  and  his  companions  were  al- 
lowed to  sit  up  beyond  the  usual  hour  and  several 
of  the  boys  still  remember  vividly  the  scene  which 
they  admired  from  the  iron  horse-shoe  balcony  of 
the  castle.  Before  the  fireworks  were  set  off,  a 
troupe  of  excellent  actors  gave,  in  the  Salon  de 
Mars,  Gondinet's  play  La  cravat e  blanche.  The  play 
had  very  nearly  to  be  abandoned  because  of  the  in- 
quisitiveness  of  the  public,  which  had  taken  advan- 
tage in  great  numbers  of  the  Emperor's  permission 
to  enter  the  park  and  gardens,  and  now  seemed  bent 
on  penetrating  into  the  palace  itself.  So  it  was 
found  necessary  to  clear  ^liC  terrace  immediately 
surrounding  the  castle  and  thus  prevent  the  crowd 
from  getting  in  at  the  windows.  By  this  means  no 
disorder  spoiled  the  end  of  the  fete. 

Great  preparations  had  been  made  for  the  ball 
which  was  to  follow  the  illuminations  and  fire-works. 
An  amusing  detail  may  be  given  which  shows  that 
the  court  etiquette  of  the  Second  Empire  was  not 
unbending.  When  it  was  learned  that  the  Khedive 
Ismail  did  not  possess  the  shadow  of  a  pair  of  knee- 
breeches  in  his  wardrobe,  the  other  gentlemen  were 
ordered  to  wear  frock-coats  and  trousers,  and  the 
Egyptian  Prince  was  not  aware  of  the  momentary 
confusion  which  he  had  occasioned. 

This  ball,  given  in  the  Galerie  d 'Apollo  and  the 
neighboring  salons,  was  one  of  the  finest  fetes  of 
tlie  Empire.  The  oflficial  world,  elegant  society,  dis- 
tinguished foreigners,  and  numerous  officers  were 
invited  and  their  various  costumes  and  uniforms 

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MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

produced  a  striking  effect.  The  warm  weather  made 
it  possible  for  the  guests  to  stroll  in  the  park  under 
the  fine  old  trees,  which  added  immensely  to  the 
charm  of  the  evening's  entertainment. 

A  remarkable  example  of  ''Court  flattery"  which, 
naturally,  the  Empress  always  discouraged,  oc- 
curred at  this  ball,  and  as  it  was  worthy  of  a  Ver- 
sailles courtier  of  the  olden  time,  it  may  be  men- 
tioned here.  The  very  young  daughter  of  a  well- 
known  deputy  of  Bourgogne  was  presented  to  the 
Empress.  Perceiving  that  the  girl  was  somewhat 
abashed  the  latter  said  kindly  to  her:  "Do  not  be 
afraid,  Mademoiselle,  Have  you  any  favor  {grace, 
in  French)  to  ask  of  me  I ' ' 

"Ah,  Madam,"  replied  the  pretty  and  precocious 
child,  "when  one  has  had  the  joy  of  looking  upon 
you,  the  only  grace  one  can  wish  for  is  yours. ' ' 

Those  who  heard  the  compliment  were  rather 
astonished  and  surprised.  It  was  repeated  through- 
out the  palace  and  had  quite  a  success,  but  was  evi- 
dently too  pretty  not  to  have  been  prepared  before- 
hand. 

This,  by  the  way,  was  the  last  fete  given  at  Saint 
Cloud.  The  unfortunate  war  of  1870  was  at  hand, 
the  castle  with  all  its  art  treasures  and  historic  sou- 
venirs was  burnt  during  the  catastrophe,  and  sad  to 
relate,  to-day  only  a  grassy  sward  marks  the  spot 
where  the  famous  palace  once  stood  in  all  its  beauty. 

The  Queen-Mother  Isabella,  and  the  Prince  of  the 
Asturias,  who  became  later  King  of  Spain,  came  to 
dine  at  the  palace  on  two  occasions  at  about  this 
period.  The  Queen,  already  afflicted  by  excessive 
obesity,  was  affable  as  usual,  smiling  amiably  on 
every  hand,  and  saying  a  kind  word  to  every  one. 

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COURT  LIFE  DURING  THE  EMPIRE 

I  particularly  remember  this  visit  because  a  dance 
was  got  up  in  the  Salon  de  Mars,  to  the  sound  of  a 
mechanical  piano,  a  contrivance  then  attracting  con- 
siderable attention,  but  which  I  abominated  and 
which  I  heard  for  the  first  time  on  this  occasion.  The 
Prince  Imperial  and  his  boy  friends  were  respon- 
sible for  its  presence  at  the  castle.  They  used  to 
say,  that  they  wished  to  see  "how  it  worked." 

The  monotony  of  the  evenings  at  Saint  Cloud  were 
thus  often  broken  into  by  a  little  gaiety.  Every  one 
danced  at  these  small  "hops,"  officers  from  the  gar- 
rison and  members  of  princely  households  mingling 
together.  The  Prince  Imperial  and  his  companions 
also  had  their  little  hops,  and  it  was  not  rare  for  the 
Emperor  to  demand  the  Boulangere,  a  dance  whose 
chief  figTire  resembles  the  grand  chain  of  the 
Lancers,  and  if  he  felt  in  the  mood,  he  would  even 
set  the  example  himself  and  take  part  in  the  general 
merriment. 

The  other  evening  spent  by  Queen  Isabella  at  the 
palace  was  devoted  to  a  ride  in  jaunting  cars 
through  the  Bois  de  Boulogne.  The  day  had  been 
very  oppressive  and  the  sovereigns  and  their  guests 
went  out  to  seek  a  little  fresh  air.  Leaving  our  car- 
riages when  they  reached  the  meadows  which  border 
the  Seine,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Bois,  the  royal 
party  greatly  enjoyed  the  promenade.  The  three 
little  princes  who  were  of  the  party — the  Prince  Im- 
perial, the  future  Alfonso  XII,  and  Hussein  Pacha 
— accompanied  by  their  friends,  began  to  play  like 
schoolboys  on  a  holiday.  Who  could  tlien  have 
guessed  what  the  future  had  in  store  for  two  of 
them? 

Many  anecdotes  might  be  related  concerning  the 

307 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

court  of  the  Second  Empire  at  Saint  Cloud.  The  fol- 
lowing, which  is  not  generally  known,  may  be  given 
here: 

When  the  Emperor  was  fresh  from  the  historical 
researches  connected  with  his  Life  of  Julius  CcBsar, 
his  mind  was  naturally  stored  with  the  facts,  dates 
and  names  relating  to  Roman  history.  So  he  took 
a  malicious  pleasure  in  seizing  the  occasion  of  the 
gathering  of  the  household  at  meal-time  to  suddenly 
startle  this  or  that  guest  by  asking  puzzling  ques- 
tions about  ancient  history.  Consequently,  every- 
body was  on  tenter  hooks  when  the  conversation 
turned  towards  these  early  times,  and  every  face 
would  look  down  on  the  plates  so  as  to  avoid  meeting 
the  Emperor's  glance  and  so  escape  the  humiliation 
of  being  laughed  at  by  those  present,  for  some  ab- 
surd reply,  that  perhaps  a  schoolboy  would  not  be 
guilty  of.  "Nothing  makes  one  so  happy  as  the  fail- 
ure of  others,"  was  the  remark  which  the  quizzing 
host  made,  on  one  of  these  occasions,  when  each  of 
us  seemed  to  enjoy  the  discomfiture  of  his  or  her 
neighbor. 

The  automatic  movement  of  the  heads,  all  bending 
down  at  the  same  moment,  had  something  very 
funny  in  it,  and  amused  the  Emperor  as  though  he 
had  been  a  child.  It  was  good  to  hear  his  open  and 
catching  laughter  when  he  had  asked  a  very  compli- 
cated question  and  the  person  addressed,  after 
blushing  or  stammering,  remained  speechless.  This 
catechizing  was  indulged  in  even  on  the  days  when 
the  ministers  met  in  council,  and  the  discreet  but 
real  enjo\Tnent  which  the  Emperor  felt  when  an 
"Excellency"  "flunked"  was  especially  amusing.  It 
is  needless  to  add  that  the  Emperor  nover  sliowcd  a 

308 


COURT  LIFE  DURING  THE  EMPIRE 

lack  of  tact  in  this  connection  and  was  careful  in 
the  choice  of  his  innocent  victims.  Thus  he  never 
questioned  Prince  Hussein,  who  might  have  replied 
by  asking  a  fact  in  the  history  of  some  of  the 
Eameses,  nor  the  Prince's  governor,  being  careful 
not  to  diminish  the  prestige  of  the  tutor  in  the  eyes 
of  the  young  Egyptian. 

Another  anecdote  concerns  General  de  Galliffet, 
then  a  colonel  returning  from  Africa,  where  he  held 
a  command.  One  morning  he  arrived  at  Saint  Cloud, 
at  half  past  eleven,  and  waited  in  the  salon  preced- 
ing the  dining-room,  where  every  one  welcomed  him, 
for  he  was  known  to  be  persona  grata  at  court. 
Some  surprise  was  felt,  however,  that  he  should  pre- 
sent himself  at  such  an  hour  without  invitation.  The 
chamberlain  on  duty  even  ventured  to  inform  him 
that  the  breakfast  hour  was  near  and  that  the  Em- 
peror and  the  Empress  might  appear  at  any  moment. 
But  Colonel  de  Galliffet  showed  no  signs  of  uneasi- 
ness and  awaited  events.  Hearing  at  this  instant 
some  steps  in  the  private  apartments,  he  hid  behind 
a  screen,  when  suddenly  the  Emperor,  the  Empress 
and  the  Prince  Imperial  entered.  While  they  were 
engaged  in  returning  the  salutations  of  those 
present,  Galliffet,  leaving  his  hiding  place,  on  a  sud- 
den stood  before  them,  bowing  low  with  all  the  grace 
he  could  master.  "Ali,  there  is  Galliffet!"  both  sov- 
ereigns exclaimed  at  the  same  time.  "Where  do  you 
come  from?"  added  the  PJmperor,  smiling.  The  self- 
possessed  officer  made  a  suitable  reply,  with  the 
spoilt  child's  certitude  of  receiving  a  kind  welcome, 
whereupon  the  Emperor  remarked:  "You  are,  of 
course,  breakfasting  with  us,"  and  in  went  "the  un- 
bidden guest"  just  as  if  lie  had  received  an  invita- 

309 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

tion  in  due  form.  He  was  especially  gay  and  talk- 
ative that  morning  and,  as  usual,  was  the  soul  of  the 
table,  which  led  the  Emperor  to  whisper  in  his  ear  at 
the  end  of  the  repast:  "Well,  Colonel,  unless  some 
of  my  invited  guests  are  a  little  more  witty  and 
loquacious,  I  am  going  to  try  how  it  goes  to  invite 
nobody." 

The  short  war  period  of  1870  was  sad  at  Saint 
Cloud.  After  the  departure  of  the  Emperor  and 
Prince  Imperial  all  became  calm  and  quiet.  Now,  as 
'* Empress-Regent"  Eugenie  remained  at  the  castle, 
in  the  company  of  her  nieces,  Admiral  Jurien  de  la 
Graviere,  the  Emperor's  aide-de-camp,  and  the 
members  of  the  household,  following  closely  home 
and  foreign  events  and  impatiently  awaiting  news 
from  the  army. 

Admiral  Jurien  never  left  the  Empress  during 
those  long  days  of  trial  and  anxiety.  Settled  at  Saint 
Cloud  with  his  whole  family,  he  was  always  at  hand, 
and  ready  at  the  first  call  to  fly  to  her  side.  Thus,  on 
the  evening  of  August  7th,  when  he  learned  that  bad 
news  from  the  front  had  reached  the  castle,  and 
entered  her  apartments,  he  found  the  Empress  with 
tears  in  her  eyes  and  speechless,  holding  a  telegram 
which  Comte  de  Cosse  Brissac,  the  chamberlain,  had 
just  deciphered.  The  fatal  message  bore  the  an- 
nouncement of  the  disasters  at  Forbach  and  Woerth. 
''The  army  is  disbanded,"  wrote  the  Emperor;  "we 
must  now  raise  our  courage  to  the  height  of  our  mis- 
fortunes." Crushed  by  the  terrible  news.  Admiral 
Jurien  said  not  a  word.  Then  M.  de  Brissac  brought 
the  second  part  of  the  telegram  attenuating  in  a 
certain  degree  the  commencement :  ' '  All  may  yet  be 
repaired."    A  feeling  of  relief  took  possession  of 

310 


COURT  LIFE  DURING  THE  EMPIRE 

those  present  on  reading  these  words,  and  I  remem- 
ber that  Eugenie  exclaimed:  ''Thank  God,  we  have 
yet  some  ground  for  hope." 

The  Empress  immediately  gave  orders  for  the 
return  to  Paris.  State  papers,  and  all  private 
articles  of  value  were  gathered  together  and  the 
Court  hastily  settled  at  the  Tuileries.  The  pictures 
and  works  of  art  which  decorated  the  palace  at  Saint 
Cloud  were  transferred  to  the  Louvre  and  the 
National  Repository.  Thanks  to  this  wise  measure, 
many  precious  canvases  and  artistic  pieces  of  furni- 
ture were  saved  from  the  flames  which  destroyed  the 
royal  residence  so  soon  afterwards.  Among  these 
were  many  objects  of  much  price  which  once  be- 
longed to  Marie  Antoinette  and  which  had  been  care- 
fully collected.  The  Empress  felt  from  the  start  that 
if  matters  turned  badly  on  the  frontier,  the  very 
existence  of  the  regime  was  endangered,  and  so,  with 
this  always  in  mind  during  this  crisis,  the  result  was 
that  many  things  of  every  kind  that  might  other- 
wise have  been  lost  to  France  were  preserved,  and 
the  wreck  of  the  private  fortune,  papers,  and  other 
matters  of  the  Imperial  family  was  far  less  than 
would  otherwise  have  been  the  case. 

But  to  return  to  a  happier  phase  of  court  life 
ander  the  Second  Empire  and  to  another  center  of 
its  existence,  Fontainebleau,  where,  at  the  close  of 
May,  1858,  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress  stayed  for 
a  time.  It  was  a  delightful  rest  after  the  January 
tragedy — the  Orsini  plot — and  the  complications 
with  England  which  had  arisen  from  the  "Colonels' 
Address"  one  of  the  unfortunate  results  of  this  ter- 
rible attempt  on  the  Emi)eror's  life. 

311 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

The  town  of  Fontainebleau  welcomed  the  imperial 
couple  with  even  more  warmth  than  usual.  At  four 
in  the  evening  the  Emperor,  the  Prince  Imperial 
and  the  Empress,  entered  the  well  decorated  streets, 
accompanied  by  Queen  Sophie  of  the  Netherlands, 
the  Prince  Royal  of  Wiirtemberg,  Prince  Napoleon, 
Princess  Mathilde,  Prince  Alexander  of  the  Nether- 
lands, Prince  Nicolas  of  Nassau,  Prince  Joachim 
Murat,  Comtesse  de  Montijo,  the  English  Ambassa- 
dor and  Lady  Cowley,  the  Ministers  of  the  Nether- 
lands and  of  Wiirtemberg,  and  many  other  notabili- 
ties. It  was  a  remarkable  cavalcade  in  every  respect 
and  caused  much  favorable  comment  at  the  time. 
''A  regime  that  can  bring  together  such  a  brilliant 
throng,"  remarked  a  Senator,  ''has  the  countrj^  and 
Europe  behind  it,"  a  statement  which  was  unques- 
tionably true  at  this  moment. 

On  the  following  day,  a  country  dance  was  given 
in  one  of  the  prettiest  spots  of  the  forest — young 
men  and  women  dancing  the  Boulangere  on  a  smooth 
green  sward,  strewn  with  spring  flowers,  to  the 
music  of  the  forest  guides;  the  next  morning  there 
was  a  stag  hunt,  and  in  the  evening  a  torch-light 
procession  in  the  Oval  Court-yard,  to  which  the  pub- 
lic were  admitted  by  the  Porte  Doree,  the  fine  gate- 
way decorated  with  sculptures  and  frescoes  through 
which  Charles  Quint  passed  w^hen  he  came  to  visit 
Francis  I,  and  which  the  Emperor  always  pointed 
out  to  his  guests  as  one  of  the  most  interesting  ob- 
jects of  the  castle.  At  this  fete  the  Emperor  ap- 
peared on  the  balcony,  with  Queen  Sophie  on  his 
arm,  and  was  much  acclaimed  by  the  crowd. 

The  Queen  of  the  Netherlands  and  the  Prince  of 
"Wiirtemberg  soon  left  Fontainebleau,  but  the  Court 

312 


COURT  LIFE  DURING  THE  EMPIRE 

remained  there  three  weeks  longer.  Distinguished 
guests  belonging  to  the  diplomatic  corps  and  society, 
various  members  of  the  cabinet  with  their  wives,  and 
some  of  the  members  of  the  household  came  in  turn 
to  the  castle,  and  though  life  was  rather  peaceful  at 
Fontainebleau  and  all  were  particularly  bent  that 
year  in  enjoying  rest  from  the  trials  and  emotions 
of  the  winter — still  there  were  a  goodly  number  of 
distractions  and  amusements  of  different  kinds  as 
always  characterized  the  Court  life  of  the  Second 
Empire.  "One  of  the  first  duties  of  a  sovereign," 
the  Emperor  used  to  say,  "is  to  amuse  his  subjects 
of  all  ranks  in  the  social  scale.  He  has  no  more  right 
to  have  a  dull  Court  than  he  has  to  have  a  weak 
army  or  a  poor  navy." 

At  Fontainebleau  long  drives,  and  from  time  to 
time  a  hunt,  were  the  chief  distractions.  Another 
favorite  pastime  of  the  sovereigns  and  their  guests 
was  paying  impromptu  visits  to  the  artistic  celeb- 
rities who  were  then  found  in  such  large  numbers  in 
and  around  the  Fontainebleau  forest.  Thus  one  day 
Napoleon,  with  the  Empress  by  his  side,  and  driving- 
a  light  carriage  he  liked  to  handle  himself,  stopped 
before  the  house  of  the  painter  Decamps.  The 
artist  had  been  informed  only  a  few  minutes  pre- 
viously of  their  coming  and  had  hastily  brought  out 
the  few  canvases  his  studio  then  contaiiied.  The  Em- 
peror took  great  interest  in  them  and  the  sovereigns 
both  wai"mly  congratulated  the  talented  painter  on 
his  beautiful  work.  Another  day,  the  Empress 
visited  the  cliildren's  home  kept  by  nuns,  and,  after 
witnessing  the  games  and  exercises  of  the  inmates, 
distributed  cakes  and  sweets  among  the  young  peo- 
ple,  much   to   their   pleasure.    Another   time,   the 

313 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

Choral  Society  of  Fontainebleau,  composed  of  work- 
men, sang  a  cantata  entitled  the  Imperial  Hunt.  The 
Emperor  and  the  rest  listened  to  the  simple  song, 
which  was  given  in  the  English  garden,  congrat- 
ulated the  singers  and  had  champagne  served  to 
them.  When  the  wine  was  poured,  the  Emperor 
raised  his  glass  saying:  "Gentlemen,  let  us  drink  to 
political  and  musical  harmony,"  and  the  workmen 
replied  with  loud  cheering.  Another  afternoon,  the 
Empress  and  her  ladies  took  Rosa  Bonheur  by  sur- 
prise, found  her  in  her  masculine  attire,  and  praised 
her  fine  animal  pictures.  All  these  visits  entertained 
the  gTiests  of  the  castle  and  rendered  the  Court  very 
popular  in  the  neighborhood.  "When  the  Emperor 
comes,"  said  one  of  the  mayors,  "we,  here  in  Fon- 
tainebleau, imagine  that  the  Age  of  Louis  XIV  has 
returned." 

Before  leaving  Fontainebleau  this  year,  the  Em- 
peror reviewed,  as  usual,  tlie  garrison  troops,  and 
decorated  a  few  of  the  officers  with  the  cross  of  the 
Legion  of  Honor.  The  town  was  again  in  gala 
dress  on  the  day  of  our  departure  and  then  every- 
thing became  calm  once  more  in  the  quiet  old  place. 
"We  will  now  go  to  sleep  till  next  summer,"  re- 
marked this  same  good  old  mayor,  as  he  bade  the 
Empress  farewell. 

Fontainebleau  was  much  entertained  during  the 
year  1861  by  the  arrival  of  the  Persian  and  Siamese 
ambassadors.  At  that  date  Sultans  and  Shahs  never 
came  in  person  to  European  countries  and  about  all 
that  was  known  concerning  them  was  what  was 
found  in  the  Arabian  Nir/hts.  So  when  it  was  an- 
nounced that  a  Persian  ambassador  was  coming  to 
France,  both  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress  thought 

314 


COURT  LIFE  DURING  THE  EMPIRE 

that  the  occasion  should  not  be  lost  to  impress  on 
this  Oriental  the  grandeur  of  western  civilization. 
The  political  effect  of  such  an  act  could  not  be  bad. 
The  Emperor  even  suggested  that  the  Empress  also 
should  be  present  at  the  official  reception  of  the  em- 
bassy. Up  to  that  time,  she  had  never  participated 
in  ceremonies  of  this  kind.  This  v/as  a  new  depart- 
ure which  interested  her  very  much.  It  was  decided 
that  she  should  be  in  full  Court  dress,  that  she 
should  be  surrounded  by  all  the  ladies  of  the  palace 
and  that  she  should  be  decked  out  in  the  finest 
jewels.  All  this  was  done  and  a  grand  ceremony, 
which  much  impressed  the  embassy  and  which  added 
much  eclat  to  that  season's  festivities  at  Fontaine- 
bleau,  was  the  result. 

Shortly  after  the  departure  of  the  Persian  ambas- 
sador, a  Siamese  embassy  w^as  announced  to  be  on 
its  way  to  Fontainebleau.  It  was  decided  that  Na- 
poleon should  receive  this  mission  in  the  fine  gal- 
lery of  Henri  II.  Here  was  to  be  a  fresh  sensation, 
for  which  the  Persian  ceremony  had  whetted  the 
Court  appetite;  and  when  this  curious  body  of  en- 
V'oys  reached  the  palace,  they  created  a  veritable  won- 
der. Here  was  a  group  of  individuals  clothed  in  long- 
silken  robes  and  who  looked  as  though  they  w^ere 
carved  out  of  a  block  of  chocolate.  They  had  in- 
formed the  Court  officials  that  they  were  bringing 
rich  gifts  from  the  King  of  Siam  to  the  Emperor 
and  that  these  gifts  must  ])e  presented  by  them  on 
their  hands  and  knees.  The  Emperor  at  first  re- 
quested that  the  kneeling  formality  be  dispensed 
with,  but  when  told  tliat  this  would  cause  olfcnce  to 
the  Siamese,  he  permitted  them  to  have  their  own 
way. 

315 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

As  at  the  reception  of  the  Persian  embassy,  ^he 
Empress  was  again  present,  surronnded  by  the 
Court  ladies.  The  latter  were  informed  by  the  Court 
officials,  who  knew  the  Siamese  ways,  to  be  very 
careful  not  to  laugh  at  what  they  were  to  see.  But 
this  hint  was  unnecessary,  for,  as  one  of  the  ladies 
said  truly  after  the  ceremony,  ''when  I  saw  those 
poor  human  beings  creeping  along  the  floor  like 
grovelling  beasts  the  sensation  was  so  painful,  that 
I  am  sure  nobody  present  felt  like  laughing." 

The  unfortunate  ambassador  bore  on  his  head  a 
large  golden  cup  containing  rich  presents.  In  order 
to  advance,  he  would  push  himself  forwards  by  the 
points  of  his  elbows,  somewhat  aided  by  his  knees. 
His  progress  was  both  slow  and  painful,  and  when 
he  finally  reached  the  throne,  he  was  panting  labori- 
ously and  was  evidently  suffering  from  the  effects  of 
these  difficult  physical  efforts.  When  the  Emperor 
saw  this,  he  could  stand  it  no  longer,  so  quitting 
the  throne  and  descending  the  steps,  he  aided  the 
weary  ambassador  to  rise,  took  from  him  the  gifts 
and  thanked  him  warmly.  This  put  an  end  to  a  cere- 
mony that  was  as  painful  as  it  was  original.  That 
evening,  the  Emperor  remarked  in  a  small  circle  of 
friends:  "There  would  be  fewer  courtiers  here  in 
France  if  that  were  the  way  in  which  they  had  to 
approach  the  throne.  Perhaps  that  is  why  the  king 
has  introduced  the  custom  in  Siam!" 

The  court's  three  favorite  residences,  besides  the 
Tuileries,  were  Saint  Cloud,  Fontainebleau  and 
Compiegne.  Of  these  charming  spots,  the  first  was 
the  most  convenient,  being  so  near  the  capital,  and 
its  close  association  with  the  first  Napoleon  and  the 

316 


COURT  LIFE  DURING  THE  EMPIRE 

glories  of  the  First  Empire  always  made  it  especial- 
ly dear  to  Napoleon  III.  ''I  almost  feel  sometimes^ 
as  I  walk  these  leafy  alleys,"  the  latter  once  said, 
' '  that  I  am  in  direct  communion  with  the  great  Em- 
peror. Any^vay,  I  always  receive  inspiration  here 
and  return  to  the  Tuileries  with  a  stronger  will,  a 
braver  heart  and  a  clearer  conscience."  Fontaine- 
bleau  was  connected  with  too  many  sad  events  in 
Napoleonic  history^  ever  to  be  a  perfectly  restful 
place  for  the  contemplative  spirit  of  the  Emperor, 
though  the  Empress  was  much  attached  to  the  grand 
forest  and  the  many  beautiful  drives  and  walks  of 
Denecourt.  The  Second  Empire  made  quite  its  o^vn 
the  rather  neglected  castle  and  superb  forest  of 
Compiegne.  Some  of  the  most  famous  social  anc^ 
artistic  events  of  the  reign  center  there  and  a  few 
souvenirs  of  Compiegne  may  be  introduced  in  these 
pages. 

Amusing  incidents  are  not  infrequent  in  Court 
life,  and  the  following  is  an  instance  of  one  of  these. 
The  guests  of  the  palaces  of  Compiegne  and  Fon- 
tainebleau  were  often  seen  strolling  round  the  ken- 
nels. On  one  occasion,  at  Compiegne,  the  Empress 
was  accompanied  by  several  other  ladies,  amongst 
whom  was  the  Princess  Metternich,  the  charming 
wife  of  the  Austrian  Ambassador,  when  she  went  to 
visit  the  hunting  dogs.  The  Prince  de  la  Moskowa 
was  acting  the  part  of  host  and  presented  his  visi- 
tors with  the  traditional  whips.  It  was  with  evident 
satisfaction  that  he  called  on  them  to  admire  the 
beauty  and  strength  of  his  dogs:  when,  suddenly, 
one  of  Eugenie's  companions  exclaimed: 

''Your  fine  dogs  must  have  fleas,  which  they  will 
eurely  pass  on  to  us." 

317 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

* '  No,  Madame, ' '  replied  the  famous  master  of  the 
hounds;  -'my  dogs  are  washed  and  brushed  down 
every  day ;  you  need  not  be  alarmed,  for  they  have 
no  fleas." 

They  then  questioned  the  Prince  regarding  the 
hygiene  of  the  dogs,  their  breed,  their  swiftness  of 
foot,  and  otlier  details.  While  this  conversation  was 
going  on,  Mme.  de  Mettemich  was  roguishly  em- 
ployed in  hunting  for  a  flea  on  one  of  the  dogs' 
heads ;  and  having  found  one,  or  pretending  to  have 
done  so,  she  shyly  slipped  it  into  the  collar  of  Prince 
de  la  Moskowa  who,  during  the  remainder  of  our 
visit,  and  much  to  our  amusement,  did  not  cease  to 
worry  about  the  tiresome  insect,  which  in  all  prob- 
ability existed  only  in  his  imagination. 

It  was  the  custom  at  Compiegne  for  each  lady  to 
choose  the  gentleman  who  was  to  escort  her  to  the 
dining-room  and  sit  by  her  side  at  table.  This  rule 
gave  rise  on  one  occasion  to  an  amusing  adventure 
of  which  Sainte-Beuvc  was  the  hero. 

A  very  intelligent  and  distinguished  young  lady, 
Mile,  de  Heeckeren,  wishing  to  have  the  opportunity 
of  enjoying  the  conversation  of  the  famous  critic 
who  happened  to  be  staying  at  Compiegne  at  the 
same  time  as  herself,  said  to  him  one  day,  using  the 
formula  then  in  vogue  at  the  castle:  ''Monsieur 
Sainte-Beuve,  will  you  take  me  out  to  dinner  to- 
morrow ? ' ' 

The  author  misunderstood  her,  or  rather  did  not 
understand  the  request  at  all.  He  was  not  suffi- 
ciently conceited  to  imagine  that  the  young  woman 
had  taken  a  fancy  to  him,  and  supposed  the  strange 
proposal  was  due  to  a  mere  woman's  caprice.  He 
was  quick  to  realize  all  the  unpleasant  consequences 

318 


COURT  LIFE  DURING  TtlE  EMPIRE 

which  might  arise  from  such  a  proceeding,  the  re- 
marks which  might  be  made  and  the  difficulty  of  find- 
ing in  Compiegne  an  inn  sufficiently  remote  to  en- 
sure the  absolute  privacy  which  would  be  needed.  In 
this  dilemma,  he  finally  decided  to  confide  in  Prin- 
cess Mathilde  and  ask  her  advice.  The  Princess 
laughed  very  heartily  and  explained  to  him  the 
nature  of  the  service  the  young  lady  had  requested 
— that  she  simply  wished  to  be  escorted  out  to  the 
dining-room  of  the  castle. 

''Well,"  said  the  witty  critic,  joining  in  the  laugh; 
''I  thought  I  knew  French,  but  I  see  I  am  unac- 
quainted with  the  Compieg-ne  dialect." 

The  evenings  in  Compiegne  were  usually  spent 
in  chatting  and  dancing.  The  Emperor  and  the  Em- 
press were  always  very  careful  to  speak  to  all  the 
guests  irrespective  of  their  rank,  occupation,  or  age. 
Eugenie  was  particularly  careful  to  be  attentive  to 
the  young,  to  those  of  both  sexes,  just  entering 
society,  and  who  can  add  such  life  and  charm  to 
Court  circles.  It  was  difficult  to  carry  out  this  plan 
at  the  crowded  Tuilories,  during  the  busy  Paris  sea- 
son. But  in  the  quieter  life  of  Compiegne  such  was 
not  the  case,  and  the  Empress  always  made  the  most 
of  this  opportunity  to  draw  nearer  to  the  Court 
these  future  leaders  of  society.  The  Emperor  ap- 
plauded and  aided,  in  so  far  as  possible,  her  eiforts, 
which,  I  may  say,  were  crowned  with  success,  be- 
cause of  the  gentle  nature  of  the  young  people  and 
because  of  the  naturalness  of  the  plan. 

Sometimes,  instead  of  dancing  to  the  music  of  the 
mechanical  piano,  wliose  handle  was  turned  by  self- 
sacrificing  guests — a  good  instance  of  the  simple 
life   which   prevailed  at   Compiegne — the   Empress 

319 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

would  propose  intellectual  games  of  various  kinds. 
She  was  especially  fond  of  what  are  called  **  Little 
Papers,"  and  "Questions  and  Answers."  Clever 
writers  like  Octave  Feuillet,  Sainte-Beuve,  Meri- 
mee  and  Arsene  Houssaye  were  pressed  into  these 
games  and  added  greatly  to  the  interest.  One  of 
the  Court  gives  the  following  account : 

"I  recall  that  one  evening,  when  we  were  weary  of 
the  more  customary  games,  some  one  proposed  that 
a  dictation  be  given,  and  care  was  taken  to  include  in 
the  phrases  given  out  very  hard  words  and  all  the 
little  intricacies  of  French  grammar  and  composi- 
tion. The  number  of  mistakes  was  enormous  and 
perhaps  not  the  least  curious  feature  of  the  trial  was 
that  Prince  Mettemich  came  off  victor  with  fewer 
faults  than  anybody  else.  I  do  not  now  remember 
whether  any  of  the  writers  just  mentioned  were 
present  that  evening  and  took  part  in  the  dictation. 
Probably  not,  however,  though  if  my  memory  is  not 
at  fault,  it  was  Sainte-Beuve  who  drew  up  the  text 
of  the  dictation,  read  it  out  to  the  'pupils'  and  then 
counted  up  the  mistakes  of  each  one.  As  one  of  his 
favorite  theses  was  that  foreigners  often  know 
French  better  than  natives,  this  may  account  in  part 
for  the  fine  manner  in  which  the  Austrian  diplomat 
passed  through  the  ordeal. 

The  afternoon  or  morning  at  Compiegne  was 
sometimes  given  up  to  a  hunt  or  to  a  drive  through 
the  beautiful  forest  to  the  famous  castle  of  Pierre- 
fonds,  which  the  Emperor  was  having  restored, 
chiefly  with  funds  from  his  private  purse,  and  where 
the  Empress  was  bringing  together  a  rather  impor- 
tant collection  of  armor.  After  this  hunt  or  drive, 
there  was  generally  a  gathering  at  the  tea  hour  in 

320 


COURT  LIFE  DUEING  THE  EMPIRE 

the  main  salon,  when  some  of  the  most  delightful 
conversation  I  ever  listened  to — and  I  have  heard 
much  fine  conversation  since  those  far-off  days — 
was  indulged  in.  But  brilliancy  and  instruction, 
scintillation  and  wit  could  only  be  expected  from  a 
gathering  which  was  made  up  of  such  men  as  Augier 
and  Arsene  Houssaye,  with  Alfred  do  Vig-ny  and 
Ponsard  in  reserve,  perhaps;  where  Victor  Duruy, 
Labiche  and  Paul  Feval  vied  with  one  another  to  be 
interesting;  where  the  learning  and  wit  of  Edmond 
About,  Pasteur,  J.  B.  Dumas  and  Leverrier  shone 
brightly;  while  such  geniuses  in  different  fields  of 
culture  as  Gounod,  Meyerbeer,  Hebert,  Gerome,  Am- 
broise  Thomas  and  a  score  of  other  similar  celebri- 
ties, filled  the  drawing-rooms  with  their  music  or 
their  brilliant  comments  on  all  the  fine  arts.  All 
these  and  many  more  remarkable  men  and  women 
passed  through  the  salons  of  that  old  Compiegne 
palace,  which  was  so  musty  and  dead  when  the  Sec- 
ond Empire  was  established.  They  chatted  and  dis- 
cussed the  various  topics  of  the  day.  I  can  never 
forget  those  hours  and  the  magnificent  intellectual 
tournaments  wliich  then  took  place. 

The  palace  of  Compiegne  had  no  theater  previous 
to  1832,  though  the  original  plans  of  the  architect 
Gabriel  contemplated  such  a  room.  But  Louis  XV 
had  never  carried  out  this  part  of  the  plan.  When 
Princess  Louise,  oldest  daughter  of  Louis  Philippe, 
was  married  to  Leox)old  I,  King  of  the  Belgians, 
Compiegne  was  selected  as  the  spot  where  the  cere- 
mony should  take  phice,  and  a  theater  was  impro- 
vised on  a  tennis-court  situated  at  the  northern  ex- 
tremity of  the  palace.  It  is  a  long,  square-shaped 
room  with  many  side  seats.    It  was  not  much  used 

::!21 


MEMOIES  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

under  Louis  Philippe,  but  during  the  Second  Em- 
pire, on  the  contrary,  plays  were  given  there  nearly 
every  year  from  1852  to  1859,  totalling  nearly  fifty 
representations,  in  which  were  seen  the  troupes  of 
the  leading  theaters  of  Paris,  and  especially  that  of 
the  French  Theater.  The  invitations  were  for  eight 
o'clock,  and  the  play  commenced  a  half  hour  later, 
as  soon  as  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress  had  taken 
their  seats  in  two  arm-chairs  placed  in  the  front  of 
the  Imperial  box.  This  box  stretched  the  whole 
width  of  the  room  and  was  preceded  by  a  first  bal- 
cony to  which  were  exclusively  admitted  ladies  in 
low-necked  dresses.  The  guests  and  officers  of  the 
household  invited  to  the  Imperial  box  numbered 
some  seventy  or  more.  The  first  boxes  above  the 
balcony  and  Imperial  box  were  filled  with  guests 
from  the  town  and  neighborhood.  The  second  row 
of  boxes  was  occupied  chiefly  by  the  serving  people 
of  the  castle.  The  pit  was  reserved  for  officers  of  all 
grades  up  to,  and  including  that  of,  captain.  The 
space  back  of  the  pit  up  to  the  Imperial  box  was 
given  up  to  judges,  members  of  the  departmental 
legislatures  and  officers  above  the  rank  of  captain. 

When  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress  entered  the 
theater,  everj^body  rose  and  remained  standing  until 
they  were  seated.  Then  the  play  began.  During  the 
intermissions,  ices,  punch,  syrups,  wore  offered  to 
the  guests  by  footmen  in  full  livery,  and  at  one  of 
these  intermissions,  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress 
would  retire  to  the  little  salon  opening  out  from  the 
Imperial  box,  where  they  would  receive  and  congrat- 
ulate the  leading  actors  and  actresses  of  the  evening. 
The  play  ended  about  half  past  eleven,  when  they 
would  bow  and  withdraw.  A  fine  supper  was  offered 

322 


COUET  LIFE  DURING  THE  EMPIKE 

to  the  troupe  of  actors  wlio  took  a  train  about  two 
o'clock  in  the  morning  for  Paris,  an  hour  or  two 
away.  Besides  being  paid,  all  the  members  of  the 
troupe  were  invited  to  dine  at  the  palace,  those  in 
the  Legion  of  Honor  being  admitted  to  the  Em- 
peror's table,  and  the  others  to  the  table  of  the 
commander  of  the  palace.  The  rate  of  the  actors' 
fees  was  based  on  the  highest  sum  they  could  make 
at  Paris.  The  success  of  the  plays  at  Compiegne 
depended  on  many  circumstances.  It  sometimes 
happened  that  actors  got  an  attack  of  stage  fright 
when  brought  face  to  face  with  this  special  audience 
and  did  very  poorly.  Again,  there  was  some  cold- 
ness in  the  audience,  as  the  spectators  waited  for  us 
to  lead  in  the  applause.  Of  course,  there  was  no 
claque. 

We  had  also  amateur  theatricals  at  Compiegne, 
the  actors  being  the  guests  at  the  palace.  These 
plays  were  not  given  in  the  theater  just  described, 
but  in  a  large  room  of  the  palace,  where  a  temporary 
stage  was  put  up.  The  costumes  were  borrowed 
from  the  State  wardrobe.  The  stage  manager  of 
these  private  theatricals  was  M.  Violet-le-Duc,  the 
famous  arcliitect  who  restored  Pierrefonds  and 
other  celebrated  ruins  of  France,  whose  society  I 
always  greatly  enjoyed.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  in 
later  life  he  seemed  to  forget  his  old  benefactors,  in 
which  respect,  however,  he  was  only  human,  for  I 
have  often  remarked  that  those  in  high  places  are 
far  more  apt  to  turn  their  backs  on  friends  who  have 
fallen  from  i)ower,  tlian  are  those  of  the  more 
humble  walks  in  life.  How  many  of  the  faithful 
domestics    of    the    Imperial    residences    remained 

323 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

ardent  supporters  of  the  Empire  to  the  very  end  of 
their  modest  existence ! 

On  one  or  two  occasions,  the  Empress  took  part 
herself  in  these  private  theatricals.  I  well  remember 
her  acting  in  Octave  Feuillet's  Portraits  of  the 
Marchioness  when  she  played  with  Comte  d'Andlau. 
Another  souvenir  of  these  histrionic  matters  de- 
serves to  be  recorded  here.  I  recollect  that  at  one  of 
the  last  Monday  evening  receptions  of  1865,  the  Em- 
press was  chatting  with  Princess  Metternich,  when 
the  former  said  to  her:  ''You  should  ask  Massa  to 
write  a  play  for  Compiegne,  in  which  you  would 
have  the  principal  part."  Eugenie  knew  how  much 
this  fascinating  woman  loved  the  amateur  stage,  and 
she  was  not  surprised,  therefore,  to  find  that 
the  Princess  immediately  seized  upon  the  suggeS' 
tion  with  enthusiasm,  and  a  few  days  later,  while  the 
iron  w^as  still  hot,  she  succeeded  in  getting  the  Mar- 
quis de  Massa  to  set  to  work  on  a  piece  that  went  off 
w^ith  flying  colors  and  in  which  the  Princess  cov- 
ered herself  with  glory.  I  remember,  that  the  young 
Prince  Imperial  had  a  few  verses  to  recite  at  one 
point  in  the  play.  He  got  them  off  with  considerable 
merit,  but  was  quite  confused  by  the  bursts  of  ap- 
plause, which,  fortunately  for  the  success  of  his 
part,  did  not  occur  until  he  had  quite  finished  all  he 
had  to  say.  I  w^as  told  at  the  time  that  when  he  left 
the  stage  and  got  behind  the  scenes,  he  exclaimed  in 
a  tone  of  voice  and  in  a  manner  that  showed  he  could 
not  understand  what  the  tremendous  marks  of  ap- 
proval meant:  "Did  that  noise  mean  that  they  had 
had  enough  of  me!"  This  modest  question  provoked 
a  laugh  among  some  of  the  courtier-actors  and 
actresses,  w^hich  only  confused  the  boy-prince  still 

324 


COUET  LIFE  DUEING  THE  EMPIRE 

more.  It  showed,  however,  an  innate  trait  of  his 
beautiful  character, — he  never  considered  what  he 
said  or  did  to  have  any  special  merit.  He  was  so 
when  a  mere  child,  as  a  growing  lad  and  as  a  young 
man.  If  he  could  have  succeeded  in  escaping  the  ter- 
rible attacks  of  those  pitiless  savages,  he  would 
never  have  felt  that  he  had  been  a  hero,  though,  as 
events  showed,  he  died  one. 

There  is  a  rather  amusing  anecdote  connected 
with  this  play  of  Massa's  which  deserves  to  be  re- 
lated, I  think,  and  of  which  the  Emperor  is  the  hero. 
During  the  intermission,  the  Emperor  went  behind 
the  scenes  and  in  the  green  room  met  Generals  Mel- 
linet  and  de  Galliffet  so  excellently  disguised  that 
he  took  them  for  real  troopers.  He  asked  Massa  who 
those  soldiers  were,  and  got  the  reply:  ''Your  Maj- 
esty, they  are  supernumeraries, — one  from  the  99th 
regiment  at  Compiegne,  and  the  other  from  the  In- 
valides."  Thereupon,  the  Emperor,  with  his  cus- 
tomary kindness  toward  inferiors,  went  over  to  the 
two  men  to  say  a  few  words  to  them.  The  supposed 
infantry  man  vrho  had  his  back  turned  to  the  Em- 
peror and  saw  in  a  mirror  what  was  happening, 
turned  quickly  on  his  sovereign,  and  as  if  he  mistook 
him  for  some  private  from  his  own  regiment,  ex- 
claimed roughly:  *'AVhat  do  you  want?"  Then,  pre- 
tending to  have  just  at  that  moment  discovered  his 
mistake,  he  added  in  a  most  humble  tone:  ''Pray 
excuse  mo,  sire !"  It  was  now  the  Emperor's  turn  to 
be  astonished,  when  he  recognised  Galliffet,  and  left 
him,  much  amused  to  speak  to  the  supposed  "In- 
valide,"  whom  he  (piickly  saw  was  no  other  than 
Mellinet.  Then,  turning  to  Massa,  the  Emperor 
said:  "Mr.  Stage-Manager,  I  want  to  congratulate 

325 


MEMOIES  OF  THE  EMPEESS  EUGENIE 

you  on  your  choice  of  supernumeraries,  and  I  feel 
very  proud  that  you  should  have  taken  the  very  men 
whom  I  had  selected  as  the  best  for  officerships  in 
the  army.  I  see  now  that  I  made  no  mistake!"  In 
fact,  the  Emperor  was  so  much  pleased  with  this 
play  of  Massa's  that  he  sent  him  a  copy  of  Julius 
CcBsar,  with  this  inscription  on  the  fly-leaf:  ^'From 
the  commentator  of  Caesar,  to  Caesar's  commentator. 
Napoleon." 

There  were  also  charades  at  the  castle,  the  chief 
authors  of  these  being  Ponsard  and  Alberic  Second. 
The  ladies  of  court  appeared  in  magnificent  cos- 
tumes. In  several  charades  the  Prince  Imperial  took 
part  with  some  of  his  young  friends.  Two  of  these 
charades  were  particularly  liked, — one,  written  by 
Ponsard,  and  entitled  Harmony,  in  which  the  Prince 
figured  as  Cupid,  and  another,  Fourhu,  by  Alberic 
Second,  in  which  the  Prince  also  appeared  along 
with  his  boy-companions  and  in  which  they  declare 
to  the  public  that  they  are  all  ''fourbus,"  that  is 
tired  out,  after  a  long  ride  to  hounds.  The  good 
Bachon,  the  Prince's  equerry,  was  much  distressed 
by  this  charade,  for  he  could  not  admit  that  his 
pupil,  who  was  already  a  very  fair  horseman,  could 
ever  be  "fourbu"  after  a  ride  to  hounds!  "But  this 
was  only  an  imaginary  hunt,"  said  somebody  to  con- 
sole him.  "Yes,  but  there  are  those  in  the  Paris 
press  who  will  say  that  it  was  a  real  hunt,"  replied 
the  excellent  man,  who  had  a  perfect  horror  of  the 
journalists  of  the  Second  Empire. 

A  minor  part  was  given  to  the  Prince  Imperial  in 
still  another  charade,  one  written  in  verse  for  the 
Emperor's  birthday.  Madame  Conneau  had  taken 
upon  herself  to  teach  the  child  his  lines  and  he  was 

326 


COURT  LIFE  DURING  THE  EMPIRE 

never  tired  of  repeating  tliem.  It  was  arranged  be- 
tween Madame  Conneau,  who  was  in  the  charade, 
and  the  Prince,  that  when  his  turn  came  she  would 
press  his  hand  twice  so  that  he  would  make  no  mis- 
take. At  the  right  place,  this  prearranged  sign  was 
given,  but  the  Prince  said  nothing.  It  was  repeated 
three  times,  but  the  Prince  was  absolutely  silent,  and 
the  curtain  had  to  go  down  without  his  having 
spoken.  The  Prince  was  so  ashamed  of  the  blunder 
that  he  asked  to  be  given  another  trial,  and  the  cur- 
tain went  up  again.  But  when  the  place  w^as  reached 
w^here  he  should  speak,  he  quite  forgot  his  lines,  and 
called  out  with  some  irritation  and  with  considerable 
justice,  some  of  us  thought:  "Is  there  no 
prompter?"  The  managers  of  these  charade  parties 
took  the  hint,  and  from  that  time  on,  a  prompter  was 
always  at  hand,  much  to  the  comfort  of  the  adult 
actors.  I  may  add  that  this  breakdown  did  not  dis- 
courage the  acting  proclivities  of  the  Prince  Im- 
perial, for  here  as  in  everj^thing  else  that  he  under- 
took, he  tried  again  and  again,  and  in  the  end  be- 
came a  very  creditable  amateur  actor. 

This  taste  for  charades  and  tableaux,  w^hich  was 
so  marked  during  the  Second  Empire  and  which  was 
given  full  vent  to  at  Fontainebleau  as  well  as  at 
Compiegnc,  caused  some  unjust  criticism  at  the 
time;  and  since,  several  critics  have  made  state- 
ments which  were  as  scandalous  as  untrue.  What 
the  Empress  thought  of  these  strictures  and  what 
was  the  effect  they  had  on  lier  is  well  told  in  a  letter 
written  about  that  time  to  a  friend  which  has  since 
been  shown  to  me.  I  cannot  do  better  than  tran- 
scribe it  hero.   It  runs  as  follows : 

**In  July,  1860,  I  could  not  hide  a  certain  feeling 

327 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

of  sadness  on  this  account.  I  had  just  returned  from 
Fontainebleau,  where  I  had  been  suffering  from  a 
slight  chest  attack.  I  am  apt  to  be  very  lenient 
towards  malevolence  which  has  not  hatred  as  its 
motive.  When  by  chance  I  meet  on  the  journey 
through  life  people  w^ho  look  for  evil  where  it  does 
not  exist,  and  w^lio  tear  their  neighbors  to  pieces 
without  object  or  cause,  this  makes  me  very  sad,  and 
I  say  to  myself:  'How  bad  a  person  must  be  who 
tries  to  break  the  hearts  of  those  who  hold  out  their 
hands  to  him;  for  not  only  are  the  blows  felt,  but 
mistrust  takes  the  place  of  every  other  sentiment 
and  even  our  friendships  are  undermined.'  This  is 
why  I  was  so  sad  during  the  last  days  at  Fontaine- 
bleau. That  innocent  charade,  unmasked  in  the 
newspapers  with  details  which  must  come  from  one 
of  those  present;  to  see  oneself  handed  over  to  the 
ma-licious  publicity  of  political  parties  and  public 
curiosity,  and  this  by  a  friend,  or,  at  any  rate,  by  a 
guest, — this  is  a  thing  I  cannot  get  used  to.  I  would 
sum  up  my  feelings  in  these  words :  My  enemies  will 
always  find  me  ready  to  face  them;  but  can  I  say  as 
much  for  my  friends  ?  Add  to  this  the  very  natural 
anxiety  which  I  felt  concerning  my  sister's  health, 
which  thanks  to  God  is  better,  and  you  will  under- 
stand why  I  gave  way  to  melancholy,  against  which, 
however,  I  always  strive  to  have  the  upper  hand  in 
so  far  as  possible." 

Though  the  Emperor  never  cared  very  much  for 
sports  of  any  kind,  he  fully  recognized  the  impor- 
tance of  encouraging  hunting  at  the  Imperial  Court, 
and,  while  the  Empress,  too,  was  not  an  adept  in  this 
sort  of  distraction,  she  shared  his  views  on  the  sub- 
ject, so  that  both  lent  their  warmest  support  to  mak- 

328 


COURT  LIFE  DURING  THE  EMPIRE 

ing  this  feature  of  court  life  worthy  of  the  regime. 
I  do  not  think  I  exaggerate  when  I  state  that  the 
Imperial  hunts  of  the  Second  Empire  were  never 
surpassed  in  France  under  the  monarchy  and  were 
not  inferior  in  good  style  to  those  of  any  other  Euro- 
pean court.  More  than  once  I  heard  this  said  by  the 
royal  guests,  and  the  same  thing  was  repeated,  with 
less  probability  of  being  done  out  of  compliment, 
by  our  own  ambassadors  and  military  attaches,  who, 
having  taken  part  in  the  hunts  of  the  various  Euro- 
pean courts,  were  in  a  good  position  to  speak  with 
authority. 

The  Imperial  hunting  equipage  generally  re- 
mained nine  months  at  Fontainebleau  and  three 
months  at  Compiegne,  with  occasional  meets  in  the 
forests  of  Saint  Germain,  Rambouillet,  Ourscamp,  a 
few  miles  from  Compiegne,  Villefernoy  and  Marly. 
The  Fontainebleau  meets  were  not  so  well  attended 
as  those  of  Compiegne,  because  of  the  season  of  the 
year  when  they  were  held, — the  first  two  thirds  of 
the  year.  The  Compiegne  season  was  the  autumn. 

On  meet  days,  the  huntsmen  of  various  grades 
started  out  early  in  the  morning  in  undress  uniform, 
and  their  three-cornered  hats,  to  look  over  the 
ground  and  let  loose  the  animals.  This  done,  they 
stationed  woodsmen  to  guard  the  enclosures  and 
then  returned  to  the  meeting-place,  wither  had  pre- 
ceded them  the  wagons  bringing  food  and  luggage 
of  all  kinds.  After  a  hasty  breakfast,  the  huntsmen 
attired  themselves  in  full  uniform  and  reported  to 
the  master  of  the  hounds,  who  had  arrived  in  the 
meanwhile  with  the  pack.  The  dogs  were  in  charge 
of  the  footmen  of  the  hounds  and  were  coupled 
according  to  age  and  experience.  All  was  ready  now 

329 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

for  the  reception  of  the  Imperial  household  and  the 
guests. 

A  meet  at  the  King's  Well,  in  the  forest  of  Com- 
piegne,  was  a  picturesque  and  grand  sight.  At  this 
open  point,  which  is  in  the  center  of  the  forest, 
ended  eight  magnificent  alleys,  which  were  pierced 
through  a  plantation  of  superb  oak  trees  during  the 
reign  of  Francis  I.  In  one  of  these  alleys  used  to  be 
drawn  up  the  carriages  of  those  invited  to  the  hunt. 
In  the  open  were  the  saddle-horses  of  the  Emperor, 
the  Prince  Imperial  and  the  Empress,  along  with 
those  of  the  officers  of  the  household,  guests,  hunts- 
men, and  grooms.  After  these  came  the  hunting 
equipage, — the  dogs  with  their  footmen,  the  officers 
of  the  hunt  and  the  grand  master  of  the  hunt,  who 
had  just  received  the  report.  The  sovereigns  gen- 
erally arrived  at  the  meet  at  noon  in  drags  and  were 
received  by  the  various  officials  with  uncovered 
heads.  After  saying  a  word  or  two  to  the  principal 
persons  of  the  group,  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress 
would  mount,  and  a  moment  after^vards  the  order 
was  given  to  begin.  Thereupon,  the  whole  cavalcade 
started  forth,  the  huntsman  at  the  head.  Directly 
after  them,  rode  the  sovereigns,  guests,  the  house- 
holds and  the  officers  of  the  garrison  where  the  hunt 
was  given.  Guests  who  were  not  in  the  habit  of  rid- 
ing horseback  drove  in  drags  or  seated  in  large 
pleasure  vans  harnessed  like  coaches.  The  caval- 
cade made  a  most  striking  impression,  especially  on 
one  occasion  when,  I  remember,  we  had  as  principal 
guests,  a  large  body  of  Algerian  chiefs  who  rode 
beautiful  Arab  horses,  and  of  course  rode  them 
superbly.  I  think  the  Emperor  was  more  interested 
in  watching  these  splendid  horsemen  than  in  follow- 

330 


COURT  LIFE  DURING  THE  EMPIRE 

ing  the  incidents  of  the  hunt.  At  least,  I  know  the 
Empress  was.  After  dinner  that  evening,  at  the  pal- 
ace, they  complimented  the  Algerians  on  their  fine 
equestrianism.  We  were  all  pleased,  and  I  must  say 
that  I  was  deeply  touched,  by  their  characteristic 
response,  so  modest  and  so  simple :  ' '  There  is  noth- 
ing equal  to  the  Arab  steed!"  They  gave  all  the 
credit  to  their  horses! 

At  all  the  open  spaces  in  the  forest  were  sta- 
tioned, during  a  hunt,  forest  guards,  in  full  uniform, 
which  consisted  of  French-cut  green  coats,  green 
knickerbockers,  high  yellow  gaiters,  pointed  hats 
and  a  hunting  knife.  The  Emperor,  attired  in  hunt- 
ing costume,  would  gallop  through  the  grand  alleys 
and  follow  the  hunt  in  this  wise,  avoiding  the  more 
complicated  course  through  the  trees  and  under- 
brush, which,  however,  is  not  very  thick  in  our  state 
forest  preserves.  The  sovereigns  were  accompanied 
by  their  households,  and  often  by  Prince  Napoleon 
who,  notwithstanding  a  tendency  to  obesity,  seemed 
to  enjoy  the  chase.  Prince  ]\lurat,  with  his  sister 
Princess  Anna  Murat  (the  Duchesse  de  Mouchy) 
were  often  among  the  principal  guests.  Prominent, 
too,  were  the  "Buttons,"  that  is,  those  who  were  au- 
thorized to  attend  the  hunt  in  a  specially  decorated 
uniform.  This  distinction  was  conferred  by  an  offi- 
cial letter  from  the  grand  master  of  the  hunt,  and 
with  this  letter  was  sent  a  box  containing  the  number 
of  buttons  necessary  for  the  decoration  of  a  hunting 
costume,  and  an  extra  one  for  the  hat.  Hence  the  ex- 
pression "to  liave  tlie  buttons,"  and  tlie  familiar 
name  "the  buttons,"  applied  to  all  those  who  wore 
the  impefia]  hunting  costume.  This  honor  was,  of 
course,  much  s(night  aftei",  and  in  this  connection, 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

the  English  game  of  ' '  Button,  button,  who 's  got  the 
button?"  used  to  be  played  sometimes  at  Compiegne 
in  an  ironical  spirit.  The  aides-de-camp  and  equer- 
ries had  the  right  to  wear  the  buttons  and  it  was  also 
conferred  on  any  officer  of  the  military  and  civil 
households  who  requested  it.  The  Due  de  Bassano, 
the  Due  de  Cambaceres,  and  several  chamberlains 
who,  for  one  reason  or  another,  generally  followed 
the  hunt  in  drags,  also  had  the  honor  of  wearing 
this  uniform.  It  was  also  conferred  on  some  of  the 
ministers  and  on  two  or  three  members  of  the  diplo- 
matic corps.  Among  the  latter,  I  especially  recall 
the  British  ambassador.  Lord  Cowley,  and  the  Aus- 
trian ambassador.  Prince  Metternich,  both  of  w^hom 
looked  very  well  in  this  showy  attire.  Among  the 
ladies  who  assumed  the  costume,  none  appeared  to 
greater  advantage  than  that  exceedingly  fascinating 
woman,  the  late  Comtesse  de  Boulaincourt,  daughter 
of  one  of  our  great  favorites,  the  Marshal  de  Cas- 
tellane.  The  fact  that  she  was  an  excellent  horse- 
w^oman  and  scarcely  ever  missed  a  hunt  made  the 
conferring  of  the  honor  all  the  more  appropriate. 
A  conspicuous  figure  at  the  hunts  was  the  painter 
Jardin,  who  mingled  business  with  pleasure  in  a 
most  charming  fashion,  for  it  was  while  following 
the  hounds  that  he  got  the  ideas  for  those  fine  pic- 
tures of  our  imperial  hunts  which  made  him  famous 
during  the  Second  P]mpire.  These  canvases  are 
very  interesting  to-day,  as  they  have  preserved  for 
future  generations  many  typical  scenes  in  French 
social  life  that  would  otherwise  have  perished. 

The  uniform  referred  to  a  paragraph  or  two 
above,  was  composed  of  a  French-cut  green  coat, 
with  wide  collar  and  trimming  in  crimson  velvet  and 

332 


COURT  LIFE  DURING  THE  EMPIRE 

hunting  braids  of  gold  and  silver.  The  braided 
waistcoat  was  crimson  velvet  also,  and  the  knicker- 
bockers were  of  white  kid,  while  the  three-cornered 
hat,  popularly  called  '' lampion,"  was  set  off  with 
black  feathers.  The  necktie  and  gloves  were  white. 
The  sovereigns'  costumes  were  somewhat  similar. 
The  Emperor  wore  white  feathers  in  his  hat  and  the 
star  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  on  his  breast.  The 
Empress  was  attired  in  a  habit  whose  bodice  was  of 
green  cloth,  the  collar  and  trimmings  of  crimson 
velvet,  with  braid  on  the  collar,  and  the  pockets 
adorned  with  Brandebourg  trimming.  Her  skirt  was 
of  green  cloth  without  braid,  and  her  three-cornered 
hat  was  ornamented  with  white  feathers.  All  these 
pretty  and  varied  costumes,  with  the  gorgeous  uni- 
forms of  some  of  the  officers,  formed  an  ensemble 
which  produced  a  most  striking  effect,  and  once  seen 
was  not  soon  forgotten.  The  memory  of  these  beau- 
tiful scenes  sometimes  rushes  back  on  me  at  the  most 
unexpected  moments,  and  one  of  the  most  vivid 
recollections  I  have  of  those  past  days  is  a  superb 
hunt  at  Fontainebleau,  where  nature  with  leaf  and 
odor  added  its  charm  to  the  general  scheme.  The 
Empress  had  many  curious  recollections  of  the  Com- 
piegne  hunts.  Here  is  one,  for  example,  which  I 
know  not  just  why,  always  clung  to  her  mind.  One 
morning,  a  deer  was  driven  into  the  Saint  Louis 
pond  in  a  picturesque  jjart  of  the  forest  and  the 
day's  sport  was  considered  at  an  end.  At  this  very 
moment,  greatly  to  the  surprise  of  everybody,  an- 
other deer,  pursued  by  the  hounds  of  M.  de  Lubersac 
and  M.  de  Chenelles,  took  refuge  in  this  same  pond 
and  was  there  dispatched.     The  sovereigns  felici- 

333 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

tated  the  hunters  on  their  skill  and  they  were  invited 
to  join  the  Imperial  party. 

Every  precaution  was  taken  at  these  meets  to 
prevent  accidents,  which  were  so  liable  to  occur  in 
such  a  large  concourse  of  men  and  beasts.  But  dur- 
ing the  whole  empire,  we  had  to  deplore  very  few 
serious  casualties,  thanks  to  a  careful  choice  of 
horses  and  servitors,  and  to  the  excellent  general 
arrangements  for  these  hunts.  But  it  was  of  course 
inevitable  that  mishaps  should  occur  sometimes. 
One  of  these  unfortunate  incidents  has  remained  in- 
delibly imprinted  on  my  memory.  It  occurred  at  a 
farm  where  there  was  a  crush  of  huntsmen  and 
huntswomen,  when  the  deer  turned  suddenly  on  the 
dogs  which  caused  great  confusion,  in  the  midst  of 
which  M.  Achille  Fould,  minister  of  finance,  was 
hurt;  M.  Delarue,  chief  guard,  was  thrown  and  his 
horse  killed,  while  the  horse  of  Mme.  Thayer  took 
fright,  plunged  into  Princess  Mathilde's  carriage  in 
such  a  way  as  to  severely  wound  Mme.  Thayer's 
foot,  so  that  the  unfortunate  lady  had  to  be  carried 
back  to  Paris  by  special  train. 

On  another  occasion,  the  Emperor's  life  was  in 
danger.  He  used  sometimes  himself  to  put  an  end 
to  the  suifering  of  the  deer  that  had  been  brought  to 
bay.  He  was  a  good  shot,  but  often  got  too  near  the 
animal,  which  once  rushed  at  him.  He  escaped  by 
quickly  bending  down  low  and  the  infuriated  beast 
sprang  over  the  Emperor's  body.  The  Empress  wit- 
nessed this  scene  and  naturally  had  a  great  fright. 
I  also  recall  how  in  the  Fontainebleau  forest  Baron 
Lambert's  left  arm  was  pierced  clean  through  by 
the  antler  of  a  wounded  deer  that  charged  on  the 
unfortunate   hunter.    Doctor   Aubin  de   Fougerais, 

334 


COURT  LIFE  DURING  THE  EMPIRE 

who  was  present  at  every  meet,  a  very  fine  rider  and 
very  fond  of  horses,  broke  his  leg  at  a  Compiegne 
hunt  and  ever  afterwards  was  forced,  to  his  infinite 
regret,  to  follow  the  hounds  in  a  carriage.  I  might 
enumerate  several  other  accidents  of  this  kind,  but 
as  I  have  already  said,  these  were  very  rare  con- 
sidering the  frequency  of  the  hunts  and  the  large 
field. 

Contemporaries  have  left  many  writings  concern- 
ing the  hunts ;  but  these  accounts  are  not  always  to 
be  depended  upon.  This  remark  is  especiallj^  true 
of  a  spiteful  book  signed  "Sylvanecte"  and  written 
by  a  woman  who  certainly  was  not  acquainted  with 
the  society  which  she  attempted  to  describe.  Its 
title  was  La  Cour  a  Compiegne  and  the  author  was 
said  to  be  the  daughter  of  one  of  the  forest  general 
guards,  I  have  become  hardened  to  unjust  criticism, 
but  this  volume  contains  falsehoods  to  which  the 
reply  can  be  only  a  shrug  of  the  shoulders.  Perhaps 
the  best  and  most  truthful  picture  of  hunting  at 
Compiegne  is  given  in  a  little-known  book  with  the 
somewhat  strange  title  of  Confidences  d'un  Valet  de 
Chambre  which  was  printed  anonymously. 

The  division  of  the  spoils  took  place  in  the  eve- 
ning. At  Fontainobleau,  the  ceremony  occurred  in 
the  Oval  Courtyard  and  at  Compiegne,  in  the  Court 
of  Honor.  It  was  conducted  with  great  style,  ac- 
cording to  the  old  traditions  of  royal  hunts.  The 
Emperor  and  the  Empress  went,  after  dinner,  to  the 
large  vestibule  in  the  center  of  the  palace  and  took 
her  stand  on  the  balcony  of  the  middle  window, 
while  the  guests  appeared  at  the  other  windows  to 
witness  the  torch-light  procession  and  the  other 
sights.    On  either  side  of  the  courtyard  stood  the 

335 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

footmen  in  full  dress,  their  hair  powdered  and 
partly  hidden  under  feathered  hats,  holding  lighted 
torches  in  their  hands.  Behind  them,  forming  a  liv- 
ing background,  were  massed  the  inhabitants  of  the 
town,  who  greatly  enjoyed  these  ceremonies. 

The  dogs  now  entered  upon  the  scene.  The  por- 
tions of  the  deer's  body,  the  quarry,  which  were  to 
be  given  to  them  were  hidden  under  the  animal's 
skin,  while  the  huntsman  displayed  to  the  eager 
hounds  the  head  of  the  animal.  Then  the  horns 
sounded  and  their  notes  were  mingled  with  the  yelp- 
ing of  the  impatient  dogs.  Twice  the  whip  fell  and 
the  animals  rushed  to  the  prostrate  body  of  the  dead 
deer.  Then  the  whip  was  raised  and  the  growling 
dogs  w^ere  forced  to  draw  back.  But  at  length  the 
hallali,  or  whoop,  sounded  and  the  huntsmen  pulled 
otf  the  skin,  when  the  dogs  with  a  furious  barking 
flung  themselves  upon  the  feast  of  meat,  fighting 
and  biting  in  an  inextricable  heap.  The  huntsmen 
and  footmen  stood  by,  whip  in  hand,  in  order  to  pre- 
vent the  fighting  from  becoming  too  serious,  while 
the  horns,  at  the  far  end  of  the  court,  sounded  the 
stirring  airs  of  the  chase.  The  whole  scene  w^as  most 
moving,  picturesque  and  not  soon  to  be  forgotten.  I 
never  hear  these  horns  now,  at  some  dog-show  or 
over  the  fields  from  some  distant  hunt,  that  I  am  not 
carried  immediately  back  to  those  closing  hours  of 
these  fine  imperial  hunts  forty  years  or  more  ago." 


CHAPTER  XIII 


COUKT  ENTEKTAINMENTS 


Though  the  more  frivolous  side  of  life  may  have 
monopolized  most  of  the  time  and  attention  of  the 
Court,  especially  at  Saint  Cloud,  Fontainebleau  and 
above  all  at  Compiegne,  still  serious  things  were  not 
wholly  neglected.  Politics  occupied  much  attention, 
particularly  that  of  the  Emperor  and  the  ministers ; 
nor  were  the  demands  of  religion  overlooked.  The 
church  was  never  forgotten  in  the  midst  of  the 
festivities  of  Court  life,  and  the  Emperor,  and  the 
Prince  Imperial  as  he  grew  older,  earnestly  sec- 
onded Eugenie's  acts  in  this  direction.  Though 
Xapoleon  III  may  have  been  more  or  less  Voltairian 
at  moments  and  in  the  company  of  men,  still,  as  a 
monarch  of  an  officially  Catholic  nation,  he  recog- 
nized thoroughly  the  necessity  of  performing,  at 
least  publicly,  all  that  the  rules  and  ceremonies  of 
Pome  demanded. 

Mass  was  said  at  noon  eveiy  Sunday  in  the  chapel 
at  the  Tuileries,  both  sovereigns  being  present  at 
the  service  in  state,  accompanied  by  their  suites,  the 
gentlemen  in  uniform,  the  ladies  in  walking  cos- 
tumes. On  ordinary  Sundays,  the  Court  occupied 
the  gallery  opposite  the  altar.  On  certain  special 
occasions,  and  during  Lent,  for  example,  the  Em- 
peror, the  Empress,  and  Court  were  in  the  lower  part 
of  the  chapel  on  red  velvet  seats  with  devotional 

33Z 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

chairs  before  them.  The  clergy  were  in  the  habit  of 
going  to  the  door  to  receive  "the  sovereigns"  and 
the  usher  announced  their  arrival  by  exclaiming  in 
a  loud  voice :  ' '  The  Emperor. ' ' 

The  Emperor  was  always  very  strict  in  his  de- 
meanor during  the  service,  being  careful  to  kneel 
at  those  parts  of  the  ceremony  where  the  women 
kneel,  but  where  the  men  usually  remain  standing. 
The  sermon  generally  lasted  about  half  an  hour,  and 
the  pulpit  was  frequently  filled  by  celebrated  ora- 
tors, among  whom  Abbe  Bauer,  a  brilliant  convert 
to  Catholicism  who  preached  several  courses  of 
Lenten  sermons,  was  particularly  liked  by  the  Em- 
peror and  the  Empress.  His  easy  flow  of  language 
and  his  eaniest  manner  were  much  appreciated  at 
Court.  At  the  end  of  the  more  strictly  religious  part 
of  the  service,  excellent  music  was  often  executed 
with  the  aid  of  several  harps. 

After  Mass,  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress 
usually  stopped  a  few  moments  in  the  gallery 
attached  to  the  chapel,  when  the  former  would  con- 
verse with  some  of  the  officers  who  were  waiting 
there,  and  the  latter  would  give  brief  audiences  in 
the  blue  salon  just  off  the  chapel.  But  both  of  them 
were  adverse  to  this  custom,  as  they  never  liked  to 
mingle  religious  observances  with  mundane  affairs. 
So  only  the  most  intimate  friends  had  audiences  at 
the  chapel. 

Another  phase  of  the  daily  life  at  the  Tuileries, 
but  very  different  from  the  one  just  touched  upon, 
may  be  mentioned  here — that  pertaining  to  the  man- 
agement and  general  condition  of  the  Imperial 
stables;  for  the  character  of  this  side  of  a  Court 
often  gives   a   fair  idea  of  the  prevailing  spirit. 

338 


COURT  ENTERTAINMENTS 

Horses  and  carriages  count  for  much  in  a  well-or- 
ganized monarchy. 

The  Empress  used  the  same  carriages  as  the  Em- 
peror, berlins,  barouches  and  wurts.  In  the  latter 
years  of  the  Empire,  Eugenie  had  what  she  called 
her  "wall-carriage"  because  she  could  shut  herself 
up  in  it  as  if  surrounded  by  a  wall.  It  was  a  deep 
blue  landau,  without  any  arms  emblazoned  on  the 
panels,  and  was  drawn  by  two  fine  horses.  The  men 
on  the  box  wore  mastic-colored  coats,  and  top- 
boots.  It  was  in  this  vehicle  that  the  Empress  used 
to  make  her  incognito  visits  to  hospitals,  charitable 
institutions  and  exhibitions  of  all  kinds. 

Eugenie  had  also  a  chaise  which  she  drove 
when  she  was  at  Saint  Cloud  or  other  summer  and 
autumn  residences.  This  carriage  v/as  drawn  either 
by  two  English  ponies,  Dove  and  Vingt  Mars,  which 
had  been  purchased  for  ten  thousand  francs  in  Lon- 
don, or  by  two  little  thoroughbred  mares,  Isaure  and 
jilelene. 

The  riding  stables  were  under  the  supervision  of 
Baron  de  Pierres,  the  equerry,  who  was  a  first-rate 
horseman.  He  had  kept  race-horses,  rode  very  well, 
was  eminently  clever  in  the  management  of  large 
stables,  and,  withal  was  very  amiable,  much  liked 
and  highly  esteemed  by  everybody.  During  the  first 
years  of  the  Empire,  he  was  the  Empress'  only 
equerry  and  came  to  report  each  day  at  noon,  at  the 
same  time  as  the  grand  mistress,  the  lady  in  waiting, 
tlie  grand  master,  tlie  reader,  the  private  secretary 
and  the  librarian.  If  tlie  Empress  remained  at  the 
palace  or  went  out  unescorted,  he  was  free  till  next 
day;  but  if  she  drove  in  the  barouche,  he  escorted 
her,  riding  at  the  right  of  the  carriage.    In  the  eve- 

339 


MEMOIES  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

ning  he  came  to  dine  at  the  imperial  table.  He  wore 
the  same  costume  as  the  Emperor's  equerries  so  far 
as  embroidery  was  concerned,  but  his  coat  was  pale 
blue. 

Baron  de  Pierres  had  property  in  the  west  of 
France  and  was  very  popular  in  those  parts,  where 
he  was  constantly  elected  deputy  during  the  last 
half  of  the  Second  Empire.  Being  unable,  in  con- 
sequence, to  perform  his  Court  duties  with  the  same 
degree  of  assiduity  as  in  the  early  days  of  the  Em- 
pire, he  asked  to  have  an  assistant  equerry;  so  the 
Marquis  de  la  Grange  then  passed  from  the  Em- 
peror's service  to  that  of  the  Empress,  and  Baron 
de  Pierres  became  first  equerry. 

When  the  Empress  rode,  she  was  always  accom- 
panied by  Baron  de  Pierres  and  his  wife,  who  was 
one  of  her  ladies  in  waiting,  and  rode  remarkably 
well.  Eugenie  greatly  enjoyed  horseback  riding, 
especially  when  in  the  country,  when  she  generally 
sought  out  sequestered  lanes  where  the  rules  of 
etiquette  could  be  wholly  forgotten  and  the  beauties 
of  nature  fully  appreciated. 

Her  chief  huntsman  was  M.  Guyot,  honorable 
and  excellent  man,  and  a  very  good  rider,  who  had 
been  in  Louis  Philippe's  stables,  and  who  remained 
in  the  service  until  1870.  Pie  wore  the  same  cos- 
tume as  the  outriders  of  the  Emperor,  and  only  fol- 
lowed the  Empress  at  reviews  and  hunts,  accom- 
panied by  two  grooms  of  the  suite. 

Eugenie's  stables  contained  a  score  of  horses, — 
among  which  were  Phoebus,  Chevreuil,  an  excellent 
hunter,  and  Langewicz  and  Elastic,  which  were  her 
favorites.  Several  horses  were  reserved  for  the 
ladies  of  the  palace, — Baroness  de  Pierres,   Com- 

340 


COURT  ENTERTAINMENTS 

tesse  de  la  Bedoyere,  Mme.  de  Lourmel  and  Com- 
tesse  de  Rayneval, — or  for  the  ladies  invited  to  Fon- 
tainebleau  and  Compiegne.  The  horses  ridden  by 
the  equerries,  huntsmen  and  followers  generally 
were  all  thoroughbred  or  very  nearly  so.  In  a  word, 
great  attention  was  paid  by  both  the  Emperor  and 
the  Empress  to  everything  pertaining  to  the  stables, 
and  it  was  generally  admitted,  I  believe,  that  the 
carriages  and  horses  of  the  Second  Empire  sur- 
passed everything  that  had  been  seen  in  France 
since  the  days  of  the  old  regime  and  the  First  Em- 
pire, for  neither  during  the  Bourbon  Restoration 
nor  the  Orleans  Monarchy  had  much  attention  been 
paid  by  the  Chief  of  State  to  this  part  of  the  royal 
establishment. 

The  Emperor  and  the  Empress  always  gave  their 
personal  attention  to  the  balls  both  at  the  Tuileries 
and  at  the  chief  ministerial  palaces.  They  so  acted 
both  for  social  and  political  reasons.  Much  can 
be  done  in  France  through  the  medium  of  a  polite 
and  artistic  State  ball.  The  Emperor  once  remarked 
with  a  smile:  "Somebody  has  said:  'Let  me  write 
the  songs  of  a  nation  and  the  rest  will  take  care 
of  itself.'  I  would  add:  "Let  me  conduct  the  danc- 
ing in  Paris  and  I  will  be  willing  to  leave  the  songs 
to  the  poetasters  of  Montmartre."  It  may  be  in- 
teresting, therefore,  to  touch  here  upon  some  of 
these  festivities. 

The  ball  given  at  the  Foreign  Affairs  Office  in 
1857  created  a  groat  sensation.  Stories  recall  vividly 
some  of  the  details.  (V)unt  Walewski,  minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  I  am  told,  was  costumed  as  a 
statesman  of  the  old  regime,  wearing  a  black  velvet 
coat  decorated  with  jet,  and  a  blue  cordon.    Coun- 

341 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

tess  Walewska,  his  wife,  appeared  as  Diana  the 
Huntress,  clothed  in  a  tiger  skin  with  a  diamond 
crescent  on  her  head,  a  bow  in  her  hand,  and,  on 
her  shoulder,  a  quiver  filled  with  golden  arrows.  A 
great  number  of  pretty  women,  most  of  them  be- 
longing to  the  official  world,  were  present,  attired  in 
rich  and  varied  costumes. 

Thus,  Princess  Czartoryska,  daughter  of  Queen 
Christine  and  the  Duke  of  Rianzares,  was  dressed 
as  a  bourgeoise  of  the  time  of  Louis  XVI,  wearing 
a  Necker  hat.  Mme.  Serrano,  wife  of  the  Spanish 
ambassador,  was  in  a  costume  of  the  middle  ages, 
while  Princess  Mathilde  wore  a  blue  lampas  dress. 
Princess  Joachim  Murat  represented  a  marchioness 
of  the  old  regime.  Lady  Cowley  was  a  Queen  Anne, 
and  Baroness  von  Seebach,  wife  of  the  Minister  of 
Saxony  and  daughter  of  Chancellor  Nesselrode,  was 
dressed  as  a  Russian  boyard  lady  of  the  days  of  the 
Czar  Peter.  She  wore  a  dress  made  of  cloth  of  gold, 
splendid  furs  and  many  precious  stones.  Mile. 
Magnan  was  in  a  hunting  costume  of  the  time  of 
Louis  XV;  my  mother,  Mme.  Fleury,  simulated  a 
lady  of  the  court  of  Marie  Antoinette ;  Mme.  Taigny 
was  an  elegant  pearl-gray  bat,  while  Princess  Calli- 
machi,  wife  of  the  Ottoman  ambassador,  was  a  Ma- 
rie de  Medicis. 

Comtesse  de  Brigode,  who  became  later  Baronesse 
de  Poilly,  the  daughter  of  the  Marquis  de  Hallay- 
Coetquen,  was  one  of  the  most  remarked  among  the 
ladies  at  this  ball.  She  appeared  in  the  costume  of 
an  Indian  amazon.  Her  long  hair  fell  from  under 
a  panther's  head  and  covered  a  red  morocco  bodice 
worn  over  gauze  skirts  embroidered  with  leaves  and 
flowers  fringed  with  birds'  feathers.    Another  lady 

342 


COURT  ENTERTAINMENTS 

attracted  much  attention,  the  then  fashionable 
beauty,  Comtesse  de  Castiglione,  who  was  dressed 
as  Queen  of  Hearts,  a  costume  which  she  considered 
symbolical  of  the  innumerable  men  whom  she  had 
captivated. 

Many  of  the  men  wore  dominoes;  some,  however, 
were  costumed.  M.  de  Vatimesnil  appeared  as 
Charles  IX,  in  a  velvet  and  gold  coat ;  Count  Olympe 
Aguado  looked  striking  and  important  as  Walla- 
chian;  Viscomte  de  Bresson  wore  a  Spanish  cos- 
tume; Comte  Armand  was  a  musketeer  of  the  time 
of  Louis  XV;  and  Baron  de  Chassiron  was  attired 
as  a  Valois  courtier. 

Another  remarkable  figure  at  this  ball  was  a  rag 
picker,  who  was,  however,  very  elegant  in  his  white 
satin  vest,  knickerbockers,  and  pink  stockings.  On 
his  back  he  carried  a  gilt  basket  filled  with  gardenias 
and  camelias,  in  his  right  hand  a  silver  hook  and  in 
the  left  hand  a  lighted  lantern.  This  was  Diogenes' 
lantern.  The  rag  picker  noticed  a  blue  domino  walk- 
ing slowly  about  the  room,  whom  he  recognized  as 
the  Emperor.  Approaching  him  he  said:  ''I  was 
seeking  an  honest  man;  I  have  found  him;"  and  im- 
mediately blew  out  the  lantern.  This  witty  flatterer 
was  a  young  diplomatist,  Comte  Amelot  de  Chail- 
lou,  who  later  had  a  biilliant  career. 

It  was  known  tliat  the  Empress  was  at  the  ball, 
but  nobody  could  discover  how  she  was  disguised. 
Some  of  the  guests  thought  that  two  dominoes  seat- 
ed in  a  salon  near  the;  ball-room  were  Eugenie  and 
Comtesse  Gustave  de  Montabello,  one  of  her  ladies. 
But  this  was  a  mistake.  However,  Baron  de  St. 
Amand,  who  was  costumed  as  one  of  Marie  Antoi- 
nette's pages,  offered  liis  services  to  the  supposed 

343 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

Empress  and  went  in  search  of  all  the  persons  whom 
she  desired  to  talk  to,  among  these  being  various 
diplomatists,  General  Kheredine,  then  the  envoy  of 
the  Bey  of  Tunis,  and  General  Canrobert.  Towards 
the  end  of  the  evening,  however,  these  two  dominoes 
suddenly  disappeared.  But  at  supper,  a  Bohemian, 
whose  face  was  half  hidden  by  a  mask,  was  found 
to  be  the  Empress  when  she  cast  off  her  domino. 

There  were  four  official  masked  balls  in  Paris  in 
1859 — at  the  Tuileries,  at  the  State  Minister's,  at 
the  Foreign  Affairs,  and  at  the  palace  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Legislative  Body.  All  these  functions 
were  brilliant  and  created  much  comment  of  various 
kinds  at  the  time.  The  invited  guests  were  selected 
with  great  care,  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress  with 
all  the  Court  attended.  They  made  it  a  point  to  aid 
in  so  far  as  possible  to  make  these  affairs  a  great 
success. 

A  word  about  the  ball  of  the  Foreign  Affairs. 
Nobody  at  the  time  ever  understood  why  the  Em- 
press preferred  the  gatherings  there  to  those  held 
elsewhere  outside  of  the  Tuileries.  The  reason  was 
very  simple.  AVhen  masked  balls  were  given  at  the 
Foreign  Office,  the  minister's  cabinet  was  adorned 
with  silk  materials  and  transformed  into  a  boudoir, 
and  here  it  was  that  she  put  on  her  domino.  This 
was  a  great  convenience.  The  rule  was  to  wear 
either  a  complete  costume,  a  Venetian  mantle,  or  a 
domino  and  mask. 

Much  was  said  then,  and,  especially  has  been  said 
since  against  these  balls,  which,  however,  only  fol- 
lowed the  best  traditions  of  the  old  monarchy.  It 
was  asserted  that  many  deplorable  intrigues  were 
the  result  of  this  adoption  of  the  mask  and  of  the 

344 


COURT  ENTERTAINMENTS 

familiar  use  in  conversation  of  the  second  person 
singular,  which  was  permitted  to  persons  thus  dis- 
guised. There  has  been  much  exaggeration  in  all 
this.  Intrigues  were  the  exception  and  a  great  many 
more  persons  went  with  uncovered  faces  than  with 
masked  faces.  These  balls  were  simply  a  species 
of  innocent  amusement  much  enjoyed  at  that  time. 
The  most  reserved  women  and  the  most  absorbed 
officials  sometimes  felt  the  need  of  some  distraction, 
and  an  agreeable  pastime  was  found  in  these  cos- 
tumed and  masked  balls.  It  has  not  been  possible, 
under  the  Third  Republic,  to  reconstitute  success- 
fully these  ancient  customs,  especially  as  the  mask 
has  fallen  almost  universally  into  disuse.  So  the 
public  has  been  easily  led  to  criticize  what  was  done 
and  what  was  the  general  fashion  of  those  past  days. 
But  most  people  did  not  at  that  date  indulge  in 
much  criticism  of  what  they  knew  was  an  old  tradi- 
tion. But  even  then,  everybody  did  not  follow  the 
prevailing  custom.  Thus,  though  the  Emperor  and 
the  Empress  were  masked  and  wore  dominoes  at  the 
first  three  balls  mentioned  above,  at  the  Tuileries 
ball  they  were  unmasked. 

At  M.  and  Mme.  Achille  Fould's  ball — that  is,  at 
the  State  Minister's  function — also  just  mentioned, 
one  or  two  interesting  incidents  occurred.  Thus, 
passing  through  interior  corridors  from  the 
Tuileries  to  the  portion  of  the  Louvre  where  was 
the  official  residence  of  tlie  Minister,  two  dominoes 
got  into  the  ball  room  by  a  private  entrance.  It 
was  thought  at  the  time  that  they  were  the  Emperor 
and  the  Empress  and  I  may  say  now  that  the  sur- 
mise was  correct.  Tlioy  remained  an  hour,  tlien 
went  away  as  they  had  come,  having  satisfied  them- 

345 


MEMOIES  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

selves  that  everything  was  being  properly  conduct- 
ed at  this  large  gathering.  Napoleon  III  liked  to 
inspect  things  with  his  own  eye.  *'I  seem  to  see 
what  others  never  see,"  he  used  to  say.  There  was 
much  comment  at  the  time  as  to  why  they  came  and 
went  so  hastily  and  privately.  Many  wrong  rea- 
sons were  given.    I  here  give  the  right  one. 

A  sensational  entry  at  this  ball  was  that  of  two 
masked  women  wearing  allegorical  costumes  which 
represented  Peace  and  War.  Peace,  all  in  white, 
crowned  with  olive  branches  and  bearing  in  her  hand 
a  green  twig,  presented  this  symbolical  emblem  to 
Princess  Mathilde,  with  some  appropriate  remark. 
The  Princess  replied:  "I  accept  it  as  a  presage, 
but  I  can  promise  nothing."  War  spoke  to  a  gen- 
eral who  had  distinguished  himself  in  the  Crimea: 
"Will  you  take  my  lance?"  she  asked.  "It  is  my 
trade  to  fight,"  answered  the  general;  "and  one 
swallow  does  not  make  a  spring." 

International  affairs  were  indeed  then  in  an  un- 
settled state.  The  Austrian  Emperor  had  visited 
Italy  at  the  end  of  1856,  but  the  people  had  not  for- 
gotten how  they  had  been  treated  in  the  recent  past, 
and  he  was  received  with  considerable  coldness. 
Sardinia  had  frequently  complained  of  Austrian  pol- 
icy in  Italy,  wiiile  Austria,  on  her  side,  was  mucli 
ruffled  by  the  attacks  made  upon  her  by  the  Sar- 
dinian press.  Growing  coolness  was  also  shown  be- 
tween Austria  and  France  on  this  same  subject, 
which  reached  a  climax  when  Napoleon  said  to  the 
Austrian  ambassadors  at  the  levee  held  on  January 
1,  1859:  "I  regret  that  French  relations  with  your 
government  are  not  so  good  as  they  were ;  but  I  beg 
you  to  inform  your  Emperor,  that  my  personal  feel- 

2A.6 


COURT  ENTERTAINMENTS 

ings  for  him  have  not  changed. ' '  In  the  meanwhile 
preparations  for  war  were  carried  on  with  the  great- 
est activity  by  Austria,  France  and  Sardinia,  and 
though  England  sent  Lord  Cowley  to  Vienna  to  try 
and  prevent  an  outbreak,  his  mission  was  not  suc- 
cessful. In  spite  of  the  balls  and  other  Court  fes- 
tivities which  were  purposely  multiplied  at  Paris 
during  these  uncertain  years,  military  matters  came 
more  and  more  to  the  fore,  and  greatly  marred  all 
social  eiforts,  which  made  for  peace  and  goodwill. 

The  Princess  Metternich  and  Arsenene  Houssaye 
introduced  into  Paris  society  of  the  sixties  the  cus- 
tom of  giving  redoubts  or  ridottos,  entertainments 
in  which  dancing  and  music  were  mingled,  a  species 
of  evening  party  which  rapidly  became  popular  and 
was  much  enjoyed  by  the  fashionable  world.  They 
began  at  a  masked  ball  in  Eugenie's  honor.  The 
Emperor  attended  wearing  a  Venetian  cloak,  while 
the  Empress  was  disguised  as  Juno,  if  I  record  it 
rightly.  The  ball-room  had  been  set  up  in  the  gar- 
den of  the  embassy,  its  walls  covered  with  light  blue 
satin  and  decorated  with  large  mirrors.  Just  before 
the  Empress  arrived,  a  somewhat  comical  incident 
occurred.  Comte  de  Fleurieu,  who  represented  a 
cocoa-seller,  so  common  in  the  streets  of  Paris,  had 
the  little  barrel  shmg  over  his  shoulder  tilled  with 
champagne,  which  ho  intended  to  give  out  to  the 
thirsty  during  the  ball.  But,  unbeknown  to  him, 
some  practical  joker  unscrewed  the  tap,  and  all  the 
precious  liquid  ran  out  on  the  floor.  This  caused  for 
a  moment  considerable  confusion  and  even  indigna- 
tion in  some  minds— not  without  reason,  it  seems  to 
TDe — but  others  laughed  at  the  "mishap."    The  floor 

84T 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

was  quite  dry  before  the  Empress  arrived  and  she 
heard  of  the  matter  only  the  next  day. 

Perhaps  the  finest  ridotto  of  the  regime  was  the 
one  given  at  the  Austrian  embassy  during  the  sea- 
son of  1869,  when  the  hostess  in  a  black  domino  and 
Comtesse  Edmond  de  Pourtales,  in  a  fine  Oriental 
costume,  were  the  houtes-en-train  of  the  evening, 
spreading  gaiety  everywhere,  throughout  the  ele- 
gant and  spacious  ball  room.  It  was  in  this  same 
year  that  M.  Houssaye  began  his  celebrated  ridottos 
of  the  Avenue  Friedland,  where  he  mingled  so  suc- 
cessfully society  and  the  chief  actors  and  actresses 
of  the  leading  theaters  of  Paris. 

The  diplomatic  corps  was,  taken  as  a  whole,  a 
very  remarkable  body  under  the  second  empire.  As 
the  Emperor  was  always  the  soul  of  the  regime,  the 
diplomats,  whether  ambassadors  or  simple  minis- 
ters, were  really  accredited  to  the  sovereign.  The 
cabinet  ministers  were  considered  of  little  impor- 
tance, at  least  till  near  the  close  of  the  regime,  by 
these  foreign  representatives.  They  preferred  to 
speak  direct  with  the  ruler  of  France  and  to  receive 
inspiration  immediately  from  him.  Their  reports 
to  their  own  governments  in  so  far  as  they  have  been 
made  public,  show  how  close  was  the  union  between 
the  Emperor  and  the  diplomatic  corps.  For  this  same 
reason  the  Empress  was  enabled  to  exert  consider- 
able influence  abroad,  and  to  make  felt  foreign  in- 
fluences at  home,  for  it  was  naturally  very  easy  for 
her  to  get  the  Emperor's  ear  and  to  learn  from  him 
what  he  was  thinking  and  what  he  wished  to  do  or 
to  have  done.  I  should  add,  however,  that  she  per- 
mitted herself  to  be  used  verj^  seldom  in  this  way 
by  members  of  the  diplomatic  corps,  and  only  when 

348 


COURT  ENTERTAINMENTS 

she  perceived  that  she  could  be  of  aid  to  the  govern- 
ment in  its  policies ;  and  still  less  often  did  Eugenie 
utilize  the  power  which  came  from  her  intercourse 
with  the  Emperor.  I  may  say,  nevertheless,  that 
on  more  than  one  occasion,  the  Empress  was  thus 
able  to  be  of  benefit  to  France  and  when  this  was 
possible,  she  did  not  let  the  occasion  slip  unutilized. 
Prince  and  Princess  Metternich  were  perhaps  the 
most  talked-of  members  of  the  diplomatic  corps  of 
the  Second  Empire.  The  Prince  was  an  important 
personality,  owing  much  of  this  importance  to  the 
fact  that  he  was  a  special  friend  of  the  Emperor 
Francis  Joseph  and  the  son  of  the  celebrated  chan- 
cellor. He  was  a  handsome  man,  with  courteous  and 
attractive  manners,  very  well  adapted  to  restore 
kindly  relations  between  two  nations  which  had  just 
])(!(in  warring  together;  for  Prince  Metternich  came 
to  Paris  immediately  after  the  campaign  of  1859. 
Napoleon  requested  that  he  be  given  the  mission  to 
Paris,  as  he  had  formerly  known  the  Prince  and 
had  met  him  again  at  Villafranca.  He  was  well  ac- 
quainted with  Paris  society  and  rapidly  gained  a 
firm  position  at  the  Tuileries,  where  he  soon  became 
a  very  good  friend  of  the  Empress.  He  showed 
himself  to  be  a  most  assiduous  diplomat  and  though 
apt  to  be,  perhaps,  all  things  to  all  men,  was  persona 
grata  everj^vhere.  That  he  had  too  strong  an  in- 
fluence over  the  Emperor  at  the  moment  of  the  fall 
of  the  Archduke  Maximilian  and  very  nearly  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  him  into  a  compromising  position 
in  this  connection,  there  can  now  be  no  d()u1)t.  In 
1866,  he  naturally  strove;  to  secure  the  intervention 
of  the  Emperor  in  favor  of  Austria,  but  his  council 
was  not  listened  to.    In  1870,  he  did  valuable  service 

349 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

in  letting  France  clearly  see  just  how  far  went  tlie 
possibilities  of  aid  from  his  country.  But  it  was 
his  wife  perhaps  that  made  Prince  Metternich  one 
of  the  most  famous  men  in  Paris.  Owing  to  her  in- 
telligence, her  fine  presence,  her  originality  and  the 
tact  she  displayed  in  securing  and  keeping  the  first 
place  in  Paris  society,  Princess  Metternich  was  the 
most-talked-of  woman  of  the  Tuileries  court  and  led 
the  female  contingent  of  the  diplomatic  corps.  Her 
features  were  rather  broad  and  irregular,  and  her 
shoulders  lacked  plumpness,  but  a  natural  elegance 
hid  these  physical  defects,  and  her  quick  mind  and 
clever  talk  did  the  rest,  making  her  a  woman  of  re- 
markable ability.  She  was  bold  in  gesture,  pic- 
turesque in  imagination  and  often  rather  startling 
in  speech.  She  was  fond  of  singing  catchy  little 
songs,  taking  many  of  them  from  the  repertory  of 
Theresa,  the  famous  concert-hall  singer  of  the 
period.  This  gave  rise  to  the  report,  which  was 
quite  false,  however,  that  she  and  the  singer  were 
close  friends.  She  made  real  hits  with  these  songs, 
which  were  sometimes  given  in  a  fashion  that 
Theresa  would  have  been  proud  of.  In  some  quar- 
ters, this  conduct  was  rather  severely  criticized,  as 
were  also  the  princess's  often  eccentric  fashion  in 
dress  and  a  certain  carelessness  in  manner.  She 
was  a  constant  guest  at  Compiegne,  as  both  the  Em- 
peror and  the  Empress  were  very  much  attached  to 
her  and  her  husband.  She  enjoyed  organizing  char- 
ades and  tableaux  as  has  already  been  seen  and 
showed  much  talent  in  the  distribution  of  the  parts 
and  in  preparing  the  costumes.  She  was  full  of 
suggestions  and  was  not  prone  to  brook  contradic- 

350 


COUET  ENTERTAINMENTS 

tion.  I  know  of  one  of  these  tiffs,  which  created  a 
considerable  tempest  in  a  teapot. 

A  little  play  called  The  Country  Lunch  was  being 
rehearsed  under  the  stage  direction,  as  usual,  of 
Princess  Metternich.  Among  the  actresses  was  the 
Duchesse  de  Persigny,  who  also  had  a  mind  of  her 
own.  It  soon  became  evident  that  the  Duchess  was 
pleased  neither  with  her  part  nor  her  costume,  and 
wished  to  improve  her  rather  mean  appearance  by 
showing  off  her  beautiful  fair  hair. 

''Who  ever  heard,"  said  Princess  Metternich,  "of 
a  lady's  waiting  maid  w^earing  her  hair  loose  over 
her  shoulders  at  a  country  picnic?" 

"They  do  as  they  like,"  replied  the  Duchess,  "and 
then,  we  are  playing  to  get  some  fun  out  of  it,  and 
it  would  please  me  to  show  off  my  hair." 

"Then,  don't  appear  in  this  tableau,"  answ^ered 
the  Princess  sharply.  She  was  beginning  to  lose 
her  temper,  and  finally  came  to  the  Empress  with  her 
tale  of  woe.  But  Eugenie  always  detested  petty 
quarrels  and  tittle-tattle  and  so  tried  to  keep  out  of 
this  trifling  squabble,  though,  on  account  of  the  high 
quality  of  the  persons  concerned,  she  had  to  say 
something.  So  the  Empress  remarked  to  the 
Princess : 

"I  should  advise  you  to  let  the  Duchess  have  her 
own  way,  especially  as  what  she  proposes  doing  may 
have  a  good  effect.  And  you  should  remember  and 
so  be  a  little  indulgent,  that  her  mother  was  a  little 
queer."  She  referred  to  Princesse  de  la  Moskowa, 
who  was  a  daughter  of  Laffitte.  Immediately,  Prin- 
cess Metternich  made  this  odd  response : 

"Well,  if  the  Duchess's  mother  is  a  wee  bit  daft, 

351 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

my  father  was  in  the  same  state,  and  so  I  do  not  at 
all  intend  to  yield." 

It  is  generally  known  that  the  father  of  Princess 
Metternich,  Count  Sandor,  was  indeed  famous  for 
his  eccentricities.  He  was  an  ardent  equestrian  and 
many  stories  were  told  of  his  feats  of  horsemanship. 
He  had  been  frequently  thrown,  and  it  was  said  that 
his  brain  was  affected  thereby,  so  that  one  day  he 
drove  his  drag  and  steeds  into  the  Danube  and  broke 
his  back  in  the  fall. 

Princess  Metternich  acted  very  well  herself  and 
obtained  a  marked  success  at  Compiogne  one  season 
by  producing  scenes  from  Ca-sar's  Commentaries. 
She  kept  up  her  interest  in  histrionics  and  after 
the  Prince  retired  from  the  French  mission,  under 
Thiers 's  administration,  plays  for  charity  were 
often  given  at  the  Metternich  house  in  Vienna. 

She  liked  to  recite,  too,  and  was  very  successful 
in  several  of  Nadaud's  simple  and  touching  poems. 
Xor  was  her  taste  for  music  and  song  confined  to  the 
trifles  of  Theresa.  She  was  fond  of  solid  music  and 
did  much  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  final  introduc- 
tion of  Wagner  into  Paris.  When  Tannhduser  w^as 
first  given  at  the  Paris  Opera,  it  w^as  vigorously 
hissed.  On  this  occasion,  however,  the  Princess  was 
seen  standing  in  her  box  and  breaking  a  beau- 
tiful fan  to  pieces  by  the  ardor  of  her  applause.  The 
piece  was  not  given  again  till  after  the  fall  of  the 
Empire,  when  it  aroused  a  storm  of  popular  opposi- 
tion. Frenchmen  who  have  since  become  Wagner- 
ian to  excess,  were  then  on  both  occasions,  violently 
opposed  to  this  music.  Princess  Metternich  used 
to  say,  referring  to  that  famous  night:  "Well,  I 
did  what  I  could  to  save  Wagner's  honor." 

352 


COURT  ENTERTAINMENTS 

During  these  years,  the  Austrian  embassy  at  Paris 
was  a  most  active  center  both  in  social  and  in  politi- 
cal matters.  Though  Austria  had  just  been  beaten 
by  France,  as  I  have  already  said,  the  Princess  and 
her  husband  showed  such  tact  and  social  activity, 
that  they  soon  drew  to  their  circle  all  that  was  best 
at  the  capital.  Dinners,  balls,  plays  and  receptions 
followed  one  another  in  quick  succession.  The  din- 
ners were  justly  celebrated;  they  were  excessively 
elegant,  and  the  guests  were  invited  with  the  great- 
est care.  The  Emperor  and  the  Empress  often  ac- 
cepted invitations  to  the  Embassy,  and  did  all  they 
could  to  add  to  the  gayety  of  this  delightful  center. 

In  the  baseless  attacks  sometimes  made  on  the 
morals  and  manners  of  the  Court  of  the  Second  Em- 
pire, Princess  Metternich  always  comes  in  for  more 
than  her  share  of  the  blame.  This  is  due  not  only 
to  her  ways  and  words  which  gave  some  ground  for 
criticism,  but  to  her  prominence.  Slanderers  always 
single  out  the  leaders  for  their  cruel  attacks,  and 
hence  it  is  that  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress  have 
been  the  victims  of  these  same  low  critics.  When 
it  became  the  fashion  to  talk  against  the  Court  and 
cast  contempt  on  all  the  ladies  who  composed  it, 
numerous  were  the  calumnies  that  were  invented. 
Details  were  given  which  had  never  existed  and 
gross  exaggeration  was  the  rule.  This  disagreeable 
subject  is  touched  upon  more  than  once,  I  fear,  in 
this  chapter.  But  it  made  such  a  sorrowful  impres- 
sion on  the  Empress,  that  I  find  myself  recurring 
to  it  in  spite  of  myself.  But  the  world  has  since 
become  more  just,  and  it  is  now  beginning  to  be  ad- 
mitted that  nothing  very  extraordinary  took  place 
at  the  Tuileries  and  at  (.^ompiegne. 

353 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

A  good  friend  of  the  Metterniclis  was  the  Italian 
ambassador  Chevalier,  and  later  Count  Nigra.  He 
did  not  belong  to  a  great  family,  but  owed  his  ad- 
vancement to  his  marked  ability  and  the  support 
which  this  ability  won  from  Cavour,  He  was  very 
amiable  in  ladies'  society,  a  good  talker  and  always 
courteous  in  manner.  He  had  an  enviable  position 
at  the  Tuileries.  He  had  a  good  voice  and  one  of 
the  pleasantest  recollections  of  Fontainebleau  is 
a  boat  party  on  the  lake,  where  Count  Nigra 
hummed,  mezzo  voce,  pretty  Italian  canzonets.  His 
rather  feline  grace  and  Piedmontese  stutter  had  a 
certain  attraction  about  them,  which  partly  explain 
his  unquestioned  success  at  court.  But  at  first 
sight,  I  do  not  think  it  can  be  said  that  the  count 
was  distinguished  looking  or  seductive.  He  was  al- 
ways very  friendly  to  the  Empress.  He  knew  her 
views  concerning  the  religious  question  in  Italy  and 
did  all  he  could  to  combat  discreetly  her  influence 
in  this  direction.  At  the  moment  of  the  outbreak 
of  the  war  in  1870,  he  of  course  could  not  be  expect- 
ed to  do  very  much  to  bring  Italy  to  the  French  side, 
for  France  could  not  accept  the  conditions  which  he 
offered,  that  is,  to  abandon  the  Pope  and  suffer 
Victor  Emmanuel  to  carry  out  the  nation's  wish 
and  secure  Rome  as  the  capital.  He  shilly-shallied, 
declaring  his  devotion  to  France  but  doing  so  in 
such  a  way  as  not  to  compromise  his  government. 
I  know  he  was  pained  at  the  fall  of  the  Empire  and 
at  the  misfortunes  of  the  Emperor,  for  whom  he  had 
a  very  warm  feeling;  but  like  all  good  Italians,  he 
felt  a  sense  of  relief  and  deliverance.  Personally, 
the  Empress  could  never  forget  how  Count  Nigra 
and  Prince  Metternich  risked  their  lives,  perhaps, 

354 


COUET  ENTEETAINMENTS 

in  aiding  her  escape  from  Paris  at  the  moment  of 
the  revolution  of  September  4th,  as  described  in  the 
second  volume  of  these  memoirs. 

At  the  side  of  Count  Nigra  at  Paris  was  a  semi- 
official diplomat.  Count  Vimercati,  who  was  on 
friendly  terms  with  Prince  Napoleon  and  who  fre- 
quented the  salon  of  Princess  Mathilde.  He  used 
to  be  intrusted  with  confidential  messages  between 
the  cabinets  of  the  Tuileries  and  of  Turin.  He  was 
amiable  but  prolix,  and  united  to  a  great  affectation 
of  frankness  a  shrewdness  that  largely  counterbal- 
anced his  frankness.  He  it  was  who,  on  the  eve  of 
the  war,  brought  word  direct  from  the  king,  thus 
emphasizing  the  earlier  reply  of  Nigra,  that  Italy 
could  only  support  France  "a  few  months  later." 
A  few  months  later !  This  was  not  the  answer  when 
Italy  looked  to  France  to  aid  her  in  her  efforts  to 
shake  off  the  Austrian  yoke ! 

In  the  Russian  embassy,  perhaps  a  word  should 
be  said  about  Princess  Lise  Troubetjkoi,  who  was 
the  sister  of  the  wife  of  the  Russian  military  at- 
tache, Count  Paul  Schouwaloff,  who  later  became  a 
very  important  personage  in  Russia  and  w^as  sent  as 
ambassador  to  Germany.  Countess  Schouwaloff, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Princess  Belosselsky,  was 
a  gentle,  kindly  lady  in  somewhat  delicate  health, 
who  won  many  friends  both  in  Imperial  and  in  Fau- 
bourg Saint  Germain  circles  by  her  perfect  manners 
and  affability.  But  her  sister.  Princess  Trou- 
betjkoi, who  dabbled  in  politics  and  sought  both 
under  the  Empire  and  afterwards  to  play  a  part, 
was  rather  distrusted.  Her  salon  had  a  certain  rep- 
utation, however,  especially  at  the  time  when  M. 
Thiers  ruled  France.    She  had  a  large  acquaintance 

355 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

in  all  countries  and  carried  on  a  large  correspon- 
dence with  persons  of  position.  Wishing  to  appear 
even  better  informed  than  she  really  was,  she  always 
seemed  to  have  in  her  pocket  a  more  or  less  impor- 
tant letter,  which  was  drawn  forth  at  the  right  time. 
Thus,  if  the  name  of  Prince  Gortchakoff  were  men- 
tioned, she  was  apt  to  say:  "Why,  I  had  a  letter 
from  him  this  morning,"  and  an  envelope  was  im- 
mediately produced,  but  I  cannot  say  w^hether  there 
was  anything  inside  it!  Practical  jokers  knowing 
her  weakness,  were  ever  ready  to  send  her  letters 
for  this  famous  pocket. 

Throughout  nearly  the  whole  Empire,  the  Brit- 
ish ambassador  was  Lord  Cowley,  who  was  an  old 
friend  of  the  Emperor.  He  and  Lady  Cowley  were 
very  intimate  at  both  the  Tuileries  and  at  Com- 
piegne.  They  remained  good  friends  after  Napo- 
leon's fall,  and  Lord  and  Lady  Cowley  often  visited 
the  Emperor  and  Empress  in  England.  Their  at- 
tentions deeply  touched  both  of  the  sovereigns. 

Lord  Lyons,  who  followed  them  towards  the  end 
of  the  empire,  came  to  Paris  from  Washington, 
where  he  had  managed  British  affairs  with  tact  dur- 
ing the  stormy  and  delicate  period  of  the  American 
Civil  War.  The  Emperor,  who  had  never  forgot- 
ten his  early  days  in  the  United  States,  used  now 
and  then  to  question  the  British  ambassador  con- 
cerning the  growth  of  the  Great  Republic,  and  going 
off  on  to  political  affairs,  would  ask  to  be  told  the 
American  side  of  the  Mexican  Expedition  imbroglio. 
Lord  Lyons  on  one  occasion  gave  him  a  very  graphic 
description  of  Mr.  Seward,  the  American  Secretary 
of  State,  who  conducted  so  ably  the  foreign  affairs 
of  the  Union  during  this  critical  crisis  and  whom 

356 


COURT  ENTERTAINMENTS 

our  Foreign  Office,  at  the  time  of  this  Mexican  af- 
fair, found  no  ordinary  antagonist,  ably  seconded 
as  he  was  at  Paris  by  that  charming  personality, 
John  Bigelow,  who,  with  General  Dix,  the  accom- 
plished gentleman  who  succeeded  him,  were  the  two 
American  Ministers  of  the  Second  Empire  whose 
marked  individuality  has  left  an  impression  on  all. 

The  Empress  was  particularly  interested  in  the 
Danish  minister,  Count  von  Moltke-Hoitfeld,  for 
two  reasons.  In  the  first  place,  he  was  married  to 
a  charming  woman,  the  daughter  of  Baron  von 
Zeebach,  minister  of  Saxony  in  Paris.  She  was  very 
elegant  and  much  sought  after  by  the  society  circles 
of  the  day.  Her  second  interest  in  this  brilliant 
family  arose  from  the  fact  that  one  of  their  nephews 
married  Miss  Bonaparte-Patterson,  daughter  of 
Colonel  Bonaparte,  grandson  of  King  Jerome. 
Colonel  Bonaparte,  though  an  American  citizen, 
served  gallantly  in  the  French  army  and  was  on  the 
friendliest  terms  with  the  Emperor  and  the  Em- 
press.   He  often  visited  the  latter  at  Chislehurst. 

Count  von  Goltz,  Prussian  minister,  who  was  quite 
in  his  place  in  Paris,  succeeded  Count  von  Hatzfeld 
mentioned  elsewhere  in  these  memoirs.  Count  von 
Goltz  was  an  excellent  conversationalist  and  was 
very  much  liked  by  ladies.  The  Empress  especially 
enjoyed  his  interesting  society.  It  has  often  been 
said  that  if  he  had  not  been  forced  by  bad  health 
to  abandon  his  post  some  eighteen  months  before 
the  Hohenzollern  affair,  he  could  have  prevented  the 
war.  Perhaps  this  is  too  much  to  say,  but  I  know 
that  he  very  clearly  saw  the  storm  coming  as  early 
as  1868.  He  did  not  hesitate  to  point  out  the  bale- 
ful influence  of  Bismarck,  hoped  to  check  its  evil  in- 

.357 


MEMOIES  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

fluence  and  loved  to  dream  of  an  alliance  between 
the  two  nations.  How  often  in  after  years  the  Em- 
peror and  the  Empress  would  talk  of  this  noble  man 
and  praise  him  for  his  high-minded  efforts  for  peace 
and  good- will! 

I  may  close  this  imperfect  account  of  some  of  the 
members  of  the  corps  who  made  the  most  lasting 
impression  by  a  few  words  concerning  an  ambassa- 
dress m  partibus,  that  distinguished  foreigner, 
Dorothea  von  Benckendorff,  Princesse  de  Lieven, 
Guizot's  Egeria.  She  gathered  about  her  all  the  im- 
portant men  of  the  day.  The  Empress  was  once 
taken  to  her  salon  by  Comte  de  Morny,  about  the 
time  the  former  was  to  wed  the  Emperor.  "You 
must  have  her  on  your  side,"  said  the  count;  "she 
can  influence  all  the  European  courts  in  our  favor." 
Eugenie  made  a  note  about  her  after  the  first  visit 
and  described  her  as  "a  tall  old  woman,  thin,  dried- 
up  and  stern  looking."  She  was  then  sixty-seven 
and  had  lost  her  captivating  grace  of  former  days. 
She  w^elcomed  Eug'enie  most  warmly  and  made  quite 
a  fuss  over  her,  for  the  approaching  marriage  had 
recently  been  made  public.  I  do  not  think  the  Em- 
press ever  saw  again  this  really  remarkable  woman 


CHAPTER  XIV 


THE  OFFICIAL  HOUSEHOLD 


Many  of  the  facts  and  impressions  contained  in 
these  volumes  are  based  on  manuscript  notes  made 
at  the  time  of  the  occurrences  described.  This  is 
especially  true  of  all  that  concerned  the  Empress's 
personal  household  and  the  persons  who  composed 
it,  most  of  whom  were  true  to  her  during  the  days 
of  prosperity  and  few  of  whom  forgot  her  when  the 
time  of  trial  came.  In  the  following  pages  I  shall 
mention  several  of  these  friends  and  aids,  and  if 
some  names  are  overlooked,  it  will  be  as  a  general 
rule  by  mistake.  I  will  also  enter  somewhat  into 
detail  concerning  the  service  of  the  palace  and  court, 
because,  as  it  is  now  so  many  years  that  France  has 
been  living  under  republican  institutions,  I  am  told 
that  a  description  of  these  habits  and  customs  of 
the  past  will  be  read  with  special  interest  by  new 
generations.  This  explains  why  I  give  place  here 
to  some  facts  which  might  otherwise  seem  rather 
trivial. 

The  greater  part  of  the  services  appertaining  to 
Eugenie's  household  were  not  combined  with  but 
annexed  to  those  appertaining  to  the  Emperor's 
liousehold.  Though  the  tw^o  households  were  dis- 
tinct in  so  far  as  concerned  the  persons  who  com- 
posed them,  the  Grand  Master  and  the  Grand  Mis- 
tress of  Eugenie's  household  performed  in  reality 

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MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

only  the  service  of  honor  attached  to  their  positions 
and  the  duty  of  being  present  at  audiences  and  pres- 
entations. Everything  else,  such  as  invitations  to 
dinners,  concerts,  balls,  were  made  out  in  the  offices 
of  the  Emperor's  household  and  signed  by  his  offi- 
cials. There  was  at  least  one  exception  to  this  rule 
— the  Empress's  Monday  evening  dances  were  man- 
aged by  her  own  grand  master  and  first  chamber- 
lain. But  this  Grand  Master  had  nothing  to  do  with 
her  correspondence,  the  distribution  of  money  to 
charities,  and  such  things,  which  duties  were  per- 
formed by  the  private  secretary^  Nor  did  her  grand 
mistress  occupy  herself  with  the  Empress's  ward- 
robe, which  was  left  in  the  hands  of  Mme.  Pollet, 
under  direct  orders.  The  ladies  of  the  palace,  who 
were  on  duty,  two  by  two,  had  nothing  to  do  with 
the  more  domestic  affairs  of  the  household.  Theirs 
was  entirely  a  service  of  honor,  A  covered  carriage, 
and  later  a  coupe,  used  to  go  and  fetch  them  from 
their  homes  about  one  o'clock  each  day.  When  they 
arrived  at  the  Tuileries  or  Saint  Cloud,  as  the  case 
might  be,  they  generally  found  already  there,  in  the 
so-called  Duty  Salon,  the  lady  reader,  the  lady  of 
honor  and  the  chamberlain.  It  was  the  audience 
hour.  The  lady  visitors  were  introduced  by  the  lady 
of  the  palace  then  on  duty,  the  gentlemen  by  the 
chamberlain.  But  it  was  not  the  Empress's  habit 
to  give  many  audiences.  The  few  ladies  who  were 
received  into  the  intimate  circle  came  more  usual!}' 
about  six  o'clock,  before  the  dinner  hour.  Towards 
the  end  of  the  Empire,  the  more  frequent  of  these 
visitors  were  the  Empress's  niece,  the  Duchesse  de 
Mouchy,  born  Princess  Anna  Murat,  whom  she  was 
very  fond  of,  and  Mme.  Delessert  and  her  daughter, 

360 


THE  OFFICIAL  HOUSEHOLD 

the  Comtesse  de  Nadaillac,  who  were  friends  even 
before  the  advent  of  the  Empire,  when  Eugenie  was 
a  child.  They  were  rather  outside  of  the  court  circle 
on  account  of  the  political  opinions  of  their  own 
circle,  and  generally  saw  the  Empress  in  private. 
The  Princesses  of  the  Bonaparte  family  were  al- 
ways welcomed  whenever  they  came,  as  were  also 
the  daughters  of  the  Duchesse  d'Albe.  They  often 
stayed  at  the  castle,  whether  the  court  was  at  Paris 
or  elsewhere. 

When  the  Empress  went  out  for  a  drive,  the  court 
regulations  were  as  follows :  She  found  the  ladies 
of  the  household  congregated  in  the  salon  assigned 
to  the  Emperor's  chamberlain.  The  lady  in  waiting 
on  ''grand  duty"  took  her  place  in  the  carriage, 
along  with  the  chamberlain,  while  the  lady  on  ' '  sec- 
ond duty"  drove  in  the  next  carriage.  If  the  Em- 
press was  going  out  with  the  Emperor,  the  aide-de- 
camp of  the  Emperor  and  the  second  orderly  officer 
sat  with  them  and  the  two  ladies  got  in  the  second 
carriage.  Sometimes  the  Emx)ress  went  out  late, 
when  the  ladies  waited  in  the  service  salon  reading 
or  embroidering.  At  other  times  she  would  not  go 
out  at  all,  when  the  ladies  in  waiting  would  be  per- 
mitted to  withdraw  and  be  driven  to  their  respec- 
tive homes,  whence  they  were  fetched  back  again  for 
dinner  to  the  Tuileries.  After  dinner  and  at  the 
end  of  the  evening,  they  were  once  more  driven 
home.  The  charity  visits  were  generally  made  in 
the  morning,  when  the  Empress  was  accompanied 
only  by  a  lady  in  waiting. 

The  ladies  of  the  household  always  appeared  in 
low-necked  dresses  in  the  evening,  as  the  Empress 
did  herself,  and  on  ordinary  occasions  they  wore  but 

2G1 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

few  jewels.  On  the  left  of  their  bodices,  the  ladies 
pinned  the  badge  of  their  office,  which  consisted  of 
Eugenie's  initial  in  diamonds  on  blue  enamel,  with 
the  Imperial  crown  above  the  letter.  The  grand  mis- 
tress and  first  lady  in  waiting  also  wore  on  their  bod- 
ice attached  to  the  same  riband,  a  double-faced 
jewel,  one  side  holding  the  portrait  of  the  Emperor 
and  the  other  side  the  Empress's  own  portrait,  the 
two  portraits  being  framed  in  diamonds.  The  gover- 
ness of  the  Children  of  France  wore  similar  jewels. 

A  word  about  some  of  the  other  ladies  of  the 
household.  The  lady  reader  arrived  before  the 
ladies  in  waiting,  wrote  letters  but  did  not  often  read 
to  the  Empress  as  she  much  preferred  to  read  to 
herself.  In  fact,  I  think  I  may  fairly  say  that  she 
was  always  quite  a  devourer  of  books,  and  it  would 
have  troubled  her  somewhat  to  be  read  to,  in  the 
first  place  because  she  would  have  always  felt  that 
this  act  was  wearisome  to  the  young  lady  who  was 
performing  it — she  knew  by  experience  in  younger 
days  that  it  is  very  fatiguing — and  in  the  second 
place  she  liked  to  "skim"  some  parts  of  a  book,  and 
read  over  other  parts  several  times.  All  these  in- 
tellectual whims  are  next  to  impossible  when  your 
reading  is  done  for  you.  So  the  official  reader  had 
somewhat  of  a  sinecure  at  the  Tuileries  court.  She 
retired  as  a  rule,  when  the  ladies  in  waiting  arrived. 

There  was  also  a  body  of  young  ladies  in  waiting. 
One  of  these  generally  devoted  her  morning  to  the 
correspondence  and  accompanied  the  Empress  on 
her  visits  to  religious  and  charitable  institutions. 
They  would  sometimes  go  to  an  exhibition,  when 
the  Chamberlain  was  also  of  the  party.  These 
young  ladies  in  waiting  had  as  a  special  duty  the 

362 


THE  OFFICIAL  HOUSEHOLD 

filing  away  of  letters,  documents  and  papers  of  all 
sorts  which  could  be  of  any  possible  value  in  the 
present  or  in  the  future.  They  were  particularly 
careful  to  preserve  any  communication  of  historical 
value.  Many  papers  of  this  sort  addressed  to  the 
Emperor  were  carefully  put  away  by  these  same 
orderly  hands.  In  this  fashion  I  found  many  valu- 
able aids  to  my  memory  when  I  set  to  work  on  these 
rather  rambling,  I  fear,  and  somewhat  inadequate 
recollections  of  the  Empress's  public  life.  Though 
some  of  these  documents,  and  many  others,  were 
lost  during  the  stormy  period  of  the  fall  of  the 
Second  Empire,  still  we  managed  to  save  a  large 
portion  of  these  interesting  collections  of  manu- 
scripts which  throw  so  much  light  on  several  of  the 
episodes  and  personages  of  the  epoch. 

The  grand  mistress  of  the  household,  who  had 
I)een  selected  at  the  moment  of  the  Empress's  mar- 
riage and  who  continued  to  fill  this  delicate  post 
throughout  the  reign,  was  the  Princesse  d'Essling, 
Duchesse  de  Eivoli,  the  daughter  of  General  Debelle 
and  widow  of  the  son  of  the  famous  Marshal  Mas- 
sena,  surnamed  ''the  cherished  child  of  victory." 
The  Princess  had  a  pleasant  face  framed  with  fair 
curly  hair.  Though  somewhat  cold  and  severe  in 
her  bearing,  perhaps,  she  was  at  heart  good,  kind 
and  very  distinguished  in  all  she  said  and  did. 
Whether  in  Paris,  or  traveling,  she  performed  all 
her  duties  with  great  care  and  tact.  It  was  her  cus- 
tom to  come  to  the  Tuileries  every  day  to  learn  the 
Empress's  desires,  when  she  would  withdraw.  She 
was  present  at  all  important  state  functions,  such 
as  receptions  or  dinners,  and  presented  by  name  the 
ladies  who  had  been  invited.    This  naming  of  guests 

303 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

is  always  a  valuable  aid  to  a  hostess,  especially  to 
one  in  the  position  which  Eugenie  then  held.  In 
the  flurry  of  the  moment,  one  often  forgets  for  an 
instant  the  name  even  of  a  very  good  acquaintance, 
and  then  it  is  that  such  valuable  aid  as  the  Princess 
could  give  was  fully  appreciated.  How  many  times 
she  has  saved  Eugenie  from  making  a  blunder  or 
being  guilty  of  a  sin  of  omission  or  commission,  and 
how  often  the  Empress  has  thanked  her  wannly, 
after  some  great  social  event,  for  her  tactful  and 
invaluable  support.  She  was  a  good  friend  to  the 
end  of  her  well-filled  days,  and  her  elegant  and 
eclectic  salon  in  the  Rue  Jean  Goujon  was  one  of 
the  most  charming  centers  of  polite  Paris.  One  of 
her  grandsons  married  one  of  the  Empress's 
cousins,  which  was  another  bond  of  union,  between 
them,  though  all  she  did  during  the  long  years  of 
the  Second  Empire  would  alone  have  sufficed  to  keep 
her  memory  very  dear. 

The  chief  lady  in  waiting,  the  Duchesse  de  Bas- 
sano,  belonged  to  the  Belgian  family  of  the  Barons 
de  Hooghvorst.  She  was  a  very  distinguished  look- 
ing woman,  had  a  most  charming  manner  and  per- 
formed her  duties  with  much  discretion.  She  and 
her  husband,  who  was  grand  chamberlain,  as  I  have 
already  said,  were  instrumental  in  drawing  to  the 
Tuileries  many  personal  friends  of  marked  distinc- 
tion and  value  to  the  young  regime,  and  the  Em- 
peror and  the  Empress  always  felt  veiy  grateful  to 
them  for  the  indefatigable  manner  in  which  they 
labored  for  the  strengthening  of  the  restored  Em- 
pire. The  Due  and  Duchesse  lived  at  the  Tuileries 
and  gave  very  select  gatherings  which  were  much 
appreciated  by  the  elite  of  the  capital.     The  Em- 

364 


THE  OFFICIAL  HOUSEHOLD 

press  not  infrequently  attended  these  choice  little 
parties  and  soon  became  most  warmly  attached  to 
the  Duchesse,  so  that  when  her  death  came  in  1868, 
it  was  a  terrible  blow  and  was  deeply  mourned  by 
the  whole  court.  One  of  her  daughters  married  the 
Marquis  d'Espeuilles,  a  brilliant  cavalry  officer, 
who  was  aide-de-camp  to  the  Prince  Imperial,  and 
so  was  doubly  dear  to  Eugenie. 

The  Due  de  Bassano  survived  his  wife.  After  the 
fall  of  the  Empire,  he  followed  the  Emperor  and  the 
Empress  into  exile.  He  was  most  devoted  to  the 
Emperor  and,  after  his  death,  he  transferred  this 
devotion  to  Eugenie.  When  she  lost  the  Prince  Im- 
perial, he  would  spend  nearly  the  whole  year  with 
her,  leaving  her  only  now  and  then  to  visit  his  chil- 
dren. When  she  made  her  sad  pilgrimage  to  the 
Cape,  he  wished  to  accompany  her,  but  Eugenie  felt 
the  voyage  was  too  long  for  a  man  of  his  years,  and 
he  finally  consented  to  let  himself  be  represented 
by  his  son,  the  Marquis  de  Bassano.  As  the  infirmi- 
ties of  age  crept  upon  him,  he  retired  and  enjoyed 
the  thoughtful  care  of  his  daughter  the  Marquise 
d'Espeuilles,  and  it  was  in  her  comfortable  home 
that  this  faithful  servitor  of  the  Second  Empire  died 
at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-four.  His  charming 
character  remained  with  him  to  the  last.  His  con- 
versation concerning  things  of  the  past  was  most 
interesting,  and  this  past  went  far  back,  because 
he  always  recalled  with  pleasure  the  fact  that  the 
great  Napoleon  once  patted  him,  when  a  child,  on 
the  cheek.  He  had  seen  the  two  Empires  in  their 
glory.  The  Empress  could  never  speak  of  him,  after 
he  passed  away,  without  deep  emotion. 

Nearly  all  the  ladies  of  the  palace  have  also  passed 

365 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

away.  Many  of  them  I  shall  ever  hold  in  sweet 
memory,  they  were  so  faithful  in  sunshine  and  in 
storm.  I  can  never  forget  Comtesse  Gustave  de 
Montebello,  born  Villeneuve-Bargemont,  who  was  so 
pretty  and  affable.  She  became  a  dear  friend  of 
the  Empress,  and  when  she  lost  a  charming  little 
daughter  and  was  sad  and  isolated,  the  Court  keenly 
felt  the  absence  of  this  gay  member  of  its  circle. 
When  her  husband  was  sent  to  Rome  to  take  com- 
mand of  the  French  troops  for  the  protection  of  the 
Pope  she  soon  became  as  popular  there  as  she  had 
been  in  Paris.  But  she  did  not  forget  the  Empress, 
for  every  year  she  returned  to  take  up  for  a  while 
her  duties  in  the  palace.  Eugenie  often  visited  her 
during  her  last  illness,  in  1870,  and  when  she  finally 
passed  into  the  other  world,  the  Empress  felt  as 
never  before  that  a  new  friend  was  awaiting  her  on 
''the  other  side." 

Baronne  de  Pierres,  whom  I  have  already  men- 
tioned as  one  of  the  ladies  in  waiting,  was  an  Ameri- 
can by  birth.  She  was  a  most  excellent  horsewoman 
and  always  accompanied  the  Empress,  when  the  lat- 
ter rode  or  hunted.  Eugenie  knew  her  before  she 
mounted  the  throne,  when  her  father,  Mr.  Thorne, 
was  a  well-known  figure  in  the  American  colony  of 
Paris,  which  was  so  brilliant  and  so  well  received 
at  the  Court  of  the  Second  Empire.  Eugenie  always 
liked  to  keep  up  her  Englisli,  as  if  she  foresaw  that 
some  day  she  would  pass  the  decline  of  her  life  in 
an  English-speaking  land.  Miss  Thorne  spoke  Eng- 
lish with  just  a  slight  touch  of  the  best  American 
accent  and  some  of  the  words  which  she  had  brought 
with  her  from  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic — espe- 
cially that  picturesque  American  slang,  which  she 

366 


THE  OFFICIAL  HOUSEHOLD 

sometimes  emploj^ed  with  mucli  effect  in  her  lively 
conversation — had  a  special  charm  for  the  Empress. 
I  think  it  was  largely  due  to  this  fascinating  Ameri- 
can woman  that  her  fellow  countrymen  and  women 
always  had  such  a  warm  welcome  at  the  Court  of 
the  Tuileries. 

The  Crimean  war  was  the  indirect  cause  of  the 
admission  to  the  household  of  several  excellent 
ladies.  One  of  these  was  the  Comtesse  de  Lourmel, 
widow  of  the  General  who  was  killed  during  that  ex- 
pedition. At  the  same  time,  widows  of  two  other 
unfortunate  generals  and  heroes — Madame  de  Bran- 
don and  Madame  Bizot — were  appointed  under-gov- 
ernesses  of  the  Children  of  France.  The  widow  of 
Admiral  Bruat,  who  had  just  died  in  the  Crimea, 
w^as  the  head-governess.  The  Comtesse  de  Lourmel 
was  a  very  amiable  woman,  and  the  fact  that  herself 
and  the  other  ladies  just  mentioned,  were  sufferers 
from  the  unfortunate  war  always  bound  them  closer 
to  the  Empress.  The  Emperor  used  to  refer  to  these 
widows  as  "that  noble  band  of  female  Invalides, 
who  would  do  honor  to  the  old  home  built  by  Louis 
XIV,  if  women  w^ero  admitted  there." 

Perhaps  the  handsomest  of  the  ladies  in  waiting, 
who  also  had  a  most  cultivated  mind,  was  the  Com- 
tesse de  Eayneval,  a  canoncss,  but  not  a  nun,  and 
sister  of  the  Comte  de  Rayneval  who  was  for  a  long 
time  in  the  diplomatic  service.  The  countess  united 
religious  fervor  to  a  large  knowledge  of  the  world, 
which  gave  a  very  unique  stamp  to  her  character 
that  charmed  the  Empress  not  a  little.  "A  sincerely 
religious  woman,  w^ho  knows  the  ways  of  fashionable 
life,"  the  Emperor  once  said  referring  to  her,  "is 
as  near  perfection  as  can  be  hoped  for  on  earth." 

367 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

Baronne  de  Malaret,  born  Segur,  was  a  lady  of 
honor,  elegant  in  manner,  with  a  beautiful  temper 
and  having  hosts  of  friends,  as  she  richly  deserved. 
Another  was  Madame  de  Saulcy,  wife  of  the  distin- 
guished numismatist.  She  was  a  very  religious  and 
intelligent  woman.  The  Emperor  referred  to  her 
when  he  said :  "If  there  were  saints  in  Court,  she 
would  be  one."  Other  ladies  were  Madame  de 
Sancy-Parabere,  daughter  of  General  Lefevre-Des- 
noettes,  whose  eclectic  salon  was  a  neutral  ground 
between  the  new  Court  and  the  old ;  the  two  daugh- 
ters of  the  Marquis  de  La  Roche-Lambert,  who  en- 
tered the  Imperial  household  on  the  same  day,  and 
one  of  whom — Comtesse  de  la  Bedoyere,  whose 
strikingly  fair  complexion  was  admired  by  the  whole 
Court — had  two  sons,  Laurent  and  Jean,  who  be- 
came the  close  friends  of  the  Prince  Imperial,  their 
mother  losing  her  first  husband  towards  the  end  of 
the  Empire  and  marrying  Comte  Edgar  Ney,  Prince 
de  la  Moskowa,  aide-de-camp  and  friend  of  the  Em- 
peror; the  other  daughter,  Comtesse  de  la  Poeze, 
very  witty  and  bubbling  over  with  spirits,  who  is 
still  alive  while  I  write  these  lines  and  who  often 
accompanied  the  Empress  on  her  various  voyages 
and  journeys;  the  Marquise  de  la  Tour  Maubourg, 
also  one  of  her  earlier  traveling  companions,  grand- 
daughter of  Marshal  Mortier,  who  was  killed  at  the 
side  of  Louis  Philippe,  when  Ficschi  made  his  at- 
tempt on  the  life  of  the  king;  and  Baroness  de  Viry- 
Cohendier,  whose  husband  became  honoraiy  cham- 
berlain. In  fact,  the  husbands  of  all  the  ladies  in 
waiting  received  this  title,  which  gave  them  their 
entrance  at  the  Tuileries  and  into  the  Court  circles, 
generally. 

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THE  OFFICIAL  HOUSEHOLD 

I  should  speak  a  little  more  at  length  of  one  of  the 
most  beloved  ladies,  the  late  Viscomtesse  Aguado, 
who  was  an  octogenarian  when  she  passed  away. 
Her  first  husband,  whom  the  Empress  knew  so  well, 
died  in  a  mad-house,  and  she  then  married  her 
brother-in-law.  She  was  born  a  Macdonell  and  was 
related  to  the  Talleyrands,  the  Montmorencys  and 
other  great  families  of  the  old  French  aristocracy. 
For  many  years  the  salon  of  Viscomte  and  Viscom- 
tesse Aguado  was  the  meeting  place  of  all  the  ele- 
gant society  of  Paris.  The  family  had  been  very 
rich,  possessed  a  fine  hunting  estate  in  the  Seine  et 
Marne  department  and  owned,  later,  a  grand  town 
house  in  the  Rue  de  I'Elysee,  overlooking  the  garden 
of  the  Elysee  Palace. 

The  last  nomination  of  lady  of  the  palace  was  that 
of  Mme.  Carette,  the  granddaughter  of  Admiral 
Bouvet.  This  lady  first  attracted  attention  during 
a  visit  which  the  Empress  made  with  the  Emperor 
to  Brittany,  by  her  extreme  beauty.  At  first  she 
was  the  reader,  and  then  she  replaced  as  one  of  the 
Empress's  ladies  Comtesse  de  Lazay-Marnesia,  a 
distant  relative  of  the  Beauharnais  family,  who  was 
in  bad  health.  Mme.  Carette  often  accompanied  the 
Empress  on  her  travels  and  official  visits  of  all 
kinds.  She  had  the  bad  luck  to  be  with  the  Emperor 
and  the  P]mpress  on  the  occasion  of  an  accident 
which  ha[)penod  to  them  at  Noufchatel,  when  all  were 
in  the  greatest  danger  because  the  horse  took  fright, 
and  slio,  unfortunately,  had  her  arm  broken. 

Mile.  Marion,  daughter  of  the  general,  also  be- 
longed to  the  household.  She  married,  shortly  be- 
fore the  war,  Comte  Clary,  who  then  belonged  to 
the  military  household  of  the  Emperor,  which  post 

369 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

he  resigned  in  order  to  devote  himself  entirely  to 
the  Prince  Imperial,  whose  aide-de-camp  he  became. 
He  followed  the  royal  family  into  exile,  and  became 
the  superintendent  of  the  joint  household  in  Eng- 
land. He  died  young,  after  great  suffering,  brought 
on  by  a  terrible  liver  complaint  which  he  had  con- 
tracted in  Mexico.  His  death  was  a  great  loss  to  the 
Prince  Imperial  and  to  all,  for  he  was  a  wise  coun- 
selor and  a  devoted  friend.  His  son  was  early  at- 
tached to  the  Empress's  suite  and  always  remained 
with  her,  accompanying  her  in  all  the  voyages  and 
journeys.  He  was  of  much  aid  during  the  last  visit 
to  Egypt  and  throughout  the  tour  to  India  in  1908. 

Now  a  few  words  about  the  male  members  of  the 
household.  Comte  de  Tascher  de  la  Pagerie  was 
the  grand  master.  The  Tascher  family  was  of 
French  origin  and  had  emigrated  to  Martinique 
during  the  eighteenth  century.  The  Count  was  a 
very  upright  and  generally  respected  man.  He  came 
to  France  in  1802,  and  Napoleon  put  him  in  the  Fon- 
tainebleau  military  school.  He  afterwards  distin- 
guished himself  on  the  battle  fields  of  the  First  Em- 
pire and  was  made  a  count  in  1808.  He  identified 
himself  with  the  interests  of  Prince  Eugene,  whom 
he  followed  to  Bavaria,  whence  he  was  recalled  in 
1852,  by  the  Emperor  and  made  senator  and  grand 
master  of  the  Empress's  household,  as  I  have  just 
said.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  Count  was  quite 
a  historic  character  and  had  seen  a  great  deal  of 
the  world.  Both  the  Emperor  and  Eugenie  enjoyed 
his  conversation,  and  he  could  speak  most  interest- 
ingly of  the  great  events  and  the  great  men  of  the 
past,  when  he  got  warmed  to  the  subject. 

Napoleon  always  found  a  peculiar  pleasure  in 

370 


THE  OFFICIAL  HOUSEHOLD 

having  about  him  these  men  of  the  past,  who  brought 
him  so  near  to  the  great  Emperor,  whom  he  could 
recall  only  vaguely.  It  was  most  touching  to  hear 
the  Emperor  question  such  men  as  the  Count  about 
the  smallest  details  of  the  looks,  doings,  and 
thoughts  of  Napoleon  I.  The  Emperor  did  this  so 
constantly  and  during  such  a  long  series  of  years, 
that  in  the  end,  he  had  in  his  own  mind  so  clear  a 
picture  of  the  time  and  the  great  actors  on  the  scene, 
with  Napoleon  in  the  foreground,  that  he  finally  felt 
himself  of  the  circle.  Perhaps  no  person  in  France 
who  belonged  to  the  generation  which  immediately 
followed  the  ''grand  era"  was  so  imbued  with  its 
life  and  spirit  as  was  Napoleon  III,  and  the  Pagerie 
family  contributed  not  a  little  to  bring  this  about. 
Hence  it  is  that  the  Empress  always  had  a  peculiar 
fondness  for  these  relatives,  for  such  they  were. 

Every  day  Comte  de  la  Pagerie  would  come  to 
take  the  Empress's  "orders,"  though  in  reality  his 
functions  were  purely  honorary.  He  and  the  Coun- 
tess lived  in  the  Pavilion  de  ]Marsan  in  the  Tuileries 
palace.  The  Count  suffered  consideral)ly  from  gout 
and  was  not  seen  much  except  when  on  duty.  The 
Countess  also  lived  a  somewhat  retired  life,  though 
her  drawing-room  was  open  to  a  large  number  of 
intimate  friends.  It  was  a  sort  of  little  German 
court  right  in  the  heart  of  Paris.  Her  imnKnliate 
circle  always  addressed  her  as  Durchlauclit,  or  Se- 
rene Highness,  which  had  a  delightful  odor  from 
the  other  side  of  the  Rhine.  The  two  daughters  who 
lived  vvitli  their  motlier  and  father  gave  a  still  fur- 
ther Teutonic  touch  to  this  home-circle.  Tlie  first 
bore  tlie  thorouglily  Ofrmanic  name  of  Comtesse 
Waldner-Freuiidstein,    and    the    second,    Comtesse 

371 


MEMOIRS  OP  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

Stephanie,  was  a  canoness  in  Bavaria.  She  was  the 
gayest  of  the  group  and  was  especially  clever  in 
planning  original  quadrilles  for  masked  balls.  Many 
a  Tuileries  "hop"  was  given  a  stamp  of  delightful 
originality  by  the  happy  thought  of  this  bright 
woman.  The  Emperor  has  left  this  rather  curious 
note  concerning  this  very  virile  mind: 

''The  Comtesse  once  wrote  some  humorous  mem- 
oirs, which  were  published  during  her  lifetime,  but 
which  were  arranged  by  a  writer  named  Paul  Gau- 
lot,  for  the  family  feared  that  the  rather  Germanic 
crudeness  of  her  language  might  provoke  unfavor- 
able comment.  She  was  indeed  something  of  a  Pala- 
tine princess,  and  her  decidedly  German  accent  when 
she  spoke  French  lent  a  certain  originality  to  her 
conversation  which  always  amused  me.  She  liked 
to  indulge  in  ridicule,  but,  at  heart,  she  was  not  ill- 
natured  and  could  not  be  said  to  be  a  back-biter, 
though  her  tong-ue,  which  often  caused  much  merri- 
ment, was  feared  in  some  quarters.  Her  well-known 
Teutonic  leanings  and  her  open  correspondence  with 
Queen  Augusta  and  a  number  of  German  princes 
and  princesses  caused  her  to  be  looked  upon  with 
a  certain  distrust  in  French  circles.  She  was  one 
of  those  who  hold  that  we  may  have  two  countries. 
But  I  do  not  wish  to  convey  the  impression  that  it 
was  believed  that  she  had  caused  any  harm  to  this 
country  by  keeping  up  her  connections  with  the 
land  where  she  was  born  and  brought  up  and  where 
she  had  two  married  sisters." 

Comte  Charles  de  la  Pagerie,  son  of  the  grand 
master,  was  first  chamberlain  in  the  Empress'  house- 
hold. He  became  senator  after  the  death  of  his 
father  in  1861  and  obtained  the  Emperor's  permis- 

372 


THE  OFFICIAL  HOUSEHOLD 

sion  to  assume  the  title  of  Due  de  Dalberg,  the  Due 
de  Dalberg  having  been  his  uncle.  He  was  witty  in 
conversation,  but  extremely  ugly,  which  ugliness 
was  not  lessened  by  a  strange  habit  which  he  had 
of  making  odd  grimaces  when  he  talked.  His  tastes 
wore  also  very  Germanic,  like  those,  in  fact,  of  all 
his  family,  with  the  exception  of  his  father,  who 
had  remained  quite  French.  The  son  continued  the 
tradition  of  his  father  and  mother  in  making  the 
Tascher  salon  the  meeting  place  of  all  the  diplo- 
matists of  the  large  and  small  German  courts,  and 
there  you  were  sure  to  find  any  German  of  impor- 
tance who  happened  to  pass  through  Paris.  When 
the  Emperor  went  over  to  call  on  the  Taschers  in 
their  wing  of  the  palace,  he  would  say  with  a  smile : 
"I  am  now  going  to  cross  the  Rhine";  and  when  he 
returned  to  his  part  of  the  Tuileries,  he  would  add : 
"Well,  I  am  back  from  the  Fatherland."  At  one 
time  the  Empress  thought  of  trying  to  acquire  a 
good  knowledge  of  the  German  language  and  she 
used  to  go  over  to  the  Taschers  for  conversation. 
But  she  had  not  the  necessary  leisure  to  keep  it  up, 
when  the  Emperor  remarked:  "You  have  returned 
from  the  Fatherland  to  stay." 

At  first  the  Empress  had  but  one  chamberlain — 
Viscomte  de  Lezay  Marnesia — in  addition  to  the  first 
chamberlain.  But  later,  three  others  were  named, 
the  Marquis  d'Havrincourt,  the  Marquis  de  Piennes 
and  the  Comte  de  Cosse-Brissac.  I  mention  tlie  fact 
and  their  names  more  on  account  of  the  pleasing  co- 
incidence that  all  of  them  were  clever  amateur  ar- 
tists—the first  being  a  sculptor,  the  second  a  very 
good  draftsman,  and  the  last,  not  a  bad  painter.  As 
the  Empress  always  greatly  enjoyed  the  arts,  these 

373 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

three  gentlemen  had  not  a  little  to  do  with  making 
our  circle  a  delightful  center  for  the  discussion  and 
practicing  of  the  fine  arts.  More  than  one  famous 
painter  or  sculptor  of  the  day  was  admitted  to  the 
"art  coterie"  as  the  Emperor  called  it,  and  went 
aAvay,  I  am  convinced,  with  new^  ideas  and  a  feeling 
that  the  Tuileries  breathed  an  atmosphere  not  inimi- 
cal to  the  beautiful  in  art  and  letters.  At  the  time 
of  w^riting  this  chapter,  the  Marquis  de  Piennes  is 
the  only  one  of  this  delightful  trio  w^ho  still  survives. 
He  has  been  residing  for  many  years  on  his  large 
Austrian  estates  and  several  times  visited  the  Em- 
press. He  has  not  lost  with  age  any  of  that  uncom- 
mon type  of  wattiness  which  made  him  famous  in  the 
old  Tuileries  circle.  It  was  through  him  that  the 
Empress  always  felt  the  more  closely  drawn  to  Mar- 
shal MacMahon,  as  the  son  of  the  Marquis,  who  died 
young,  unfortunately,  was  married  to  the  daughter 
of  the  marshal.  An  interesting  fact,  concerning 
Comte  de  Cosse  Brissac  was  that,  though  his  family 
was  opposed  to  the  Empire,  he  remained  faithful  to 
it,  while  his  bright  and  amusing  nature  made  him 
very  popular  in  the  court  circle. 

There  was,  among  the  subalterns,  in  the  Em- 
press' service,  a  somewhat  striking  figure  worthy, 
for  several  reasons,  of  a  few  moments'  attention. 
Mme.  Pollet,  long  known  by  the  name  of  Pepa,  has 
been  said  to  have  exerted  considerable  influence  over 
Eugenie  and  her  immediate  circle.  But  this  is  quite 
a  mistake  for,  though  they  all  liked  Mme.  Pollet 
fairly  well  on  account  of  her  blind  devotion,  she  w^as 
never  in  any  way  admitted  into  Eugenie's  con- 
fidence. 

Mme.  Pollet  was  quite  young  when  slie  entered 

374 


THE  OFFICIAL  HOUSEHOLD 

the  Empress'  service  when  the  latter  was  Comtesse 
de  Teba,  and  she  remained  w^ith  Eugenie  all  her  life. 
The  Empress  married  her  to  an  infantry  officer  and 
at  the  time  of  her  marriage  gave  her  the  title  of 
treasurer. 

That  pale  little  woman,  who  seemed  to  have  no 
strength  whatever  and  constantly  complained  of  ill- 
health,  was  activity  personified.  She  was  the  only 
Spanish  woman  in  the  service.  She  spoke  the  most 
curious  French  imaginable.  She  had  faults  which 
cannot  be  overlooked,  but  she  w^as,  as  I  have  just 
said,  entirely  devoted  to  the  Empress,  who  fully 
appreciated  her  fidelity,  which  did  not  however  pre- 
vent from  scolding  her  on  numerous  occasions  when 
her  jealousy  and  ill-temper  gave  rise  to  difficulties 
and  disputes  among  the  serving-women,  troubles  of 
a  kind  which  Eugenie  detested  most  cordially.  Witty 
and  fairly  intelligent,  Mme.  Pollet  knew  how  to  turn 
to  good  account  the  trust  reposed  in  her.  Some 
persons  have  said  that  she  took  undue  advantage  of 
her  position.  But  that  is  not  perfectly  exact,  for  it 
should  be  remembered,  Pepa  was  in  no  way  her  own 
mistress. 

The  Empress  received  one  million  two  hundred 
thousand  francs  yearly  from  the  Emperor ;  one  hun- 
dred thousand  of  that  amount  she  used  for  dress, 
while  most  of  the  rest  was  distributed  in  presents, 
pensions,  and  charitable  bequests.  It  was  Mme.  Pol- 
let's  duty  to  keep  all  tlie  piivate  accounts.  She  was 
consequently  in  close  relations  with  the  tradespeople 
for  not  only  the  clothes  but  also  for  the  presents 
which  Eugenie  had  to  make.  It  must  be  admitted 
that  under  such  circumstances,  a  mortal  would  re- 
quire more  than  an  ordinary  dose  of  probity  not  to 

375 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

succumb  to  the  temptation  of  feathering  one's  own 
nest.  Histoiy  leaves  no  doubt  on  this  point.  Mme. 
Pollet  mllingly  accepted  presents  from  the  trades- 
people who  w^ere  naturally  interested  in  keeping  in 
the  good  books  of  the  treaisurer  and  who  over- 
whelmed her  with  gifts.  The  Empress  was  told  later 
that  she  also  accepted  gifts  offered  by  highly  placed 
ladies  who  wished  to  obtain  favors  from  the  Em- 
peror or  Eugenie  and  who  were  only  too  willing  to 
bribe  her.  ' '  But  where  shall  we  find  a  court,  a  min- 
istry, or  even  an  ordinarily  large  private  establish- 
ment, in  which  those  who  seek  favors  do  not  have 
recourse  to  the  assistance  of  the  subalterns  when 
they  think  they  will  thus  obtain  easier  access  to  the 
powers  that  be?"  This  w^as  a  very  just  reflection 
made  by  the  Emperor  when  this  matter  came  up  one 
day  after  the  fall  of  the  Empire. 

Mme.  Pollet  was  supreme  as  regards  the  direction 
of  the  women's  services,  and  there  undoubtedly  was 
very  often  discontent  and  bitterness  among  those 
around  her.  It  frequently  required  all  the  kindness 
the  Empress  could  command  to  soothe  the  feelings 
wounded  by  Pepa's  seeming  injustice,  and  at  times, 
it  was  no  easy  thing  to  put  matters  in  order  again. 
Eugenie  would  have  much  preferred  to  avoid  these 
quarrels;  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  any  other  ''su- 
perintendent of  domestic  affairs"  as  the  Emperor 
dubbed  Mme.  Pollet,  would  not  have  caused  the  same 
difficulties. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Empress  could  safely  trust 
Mme.  Pollet  to  look  after  jewels,  laces,  furs,  and 
things  of  that  kind.  This  was  a  grand  source  of 
comfort.  She  had  a  great  sense  of  order,  and  it 
even  sometimes  happened  that  things  were  so  well 

376 


THE  OFFICIAL  HOUSEHOLD 

tidied  away  by  her  that  it  was  often  impossible  to 
find  what  one  was  looking  for.  In  other  words  this 
good  soul  had,  like  so  many  more  important  people, 
the  defects  of  her  qualities. 

Mme.  Pollet  was  present  at  the  Empress'  toilet 
every  day,  took  orders  and  transmitted  them  to  the 
maids  and  servants  generally.  She  constantly  saw 
Eugenie  for  a  thousand  little  matters  or  details,  but 
it  is  certain  that  the  latter  did  not  allow  her  to  play 
any  part  beyond  her  very  subaltern  role.  A  friend 
has  very  truly  said:  "She  was  never  elevated  to 
the  rank  of  a  lady,  whether  it  were  a  lady  in  waiting 
or  a  lady  in  society."  The  Empress  never  dis- 
cussed any  important  matter  with  her,  which  was, 
I  fear,  a  source  of  great  disappointment  to  her.  But 
it  was  the  only  safe  course.  Knowing  her  character 
as  she  did,  Eugenie  was  sure  that  if  she  gave  her 
an  inch  she  would  take  an  ell,  her  usefulness  would 
cease,  and  then  they  would  have  to  part  company. 

I  am  told  that  Mme.  Pollet  made  every  effort  in 
her  power  to  gain  admission  to  official  receptions 
so  soon  as  her  husband's  situation  rendered  it  pos- 
sible for  him  to  obtain  invitations  for  her.  But  the 
Empress  in  no  way  encouraged  these  efforts  and 
always  tried  to  keep  Pepa  in  the  modest  situation 
which  she  filled  so  well.  But  when,  in  1869,  M.  Pol- 
let by  the  force  of  circumstances,  became  a  colonel, 
his  wife  was  seen,  I  believe,  at  one  or  two  grand 
balls;  but  that  was  all.  Colonel  Pollet,  who  was  an 
excellent  husband  and  soldier,  died  suddenly  in 
Paris  shortly  before  tlie  Franco-Prussian  War 
broke  out.  His  widow  followed  the  Empress  to  Eng- 
land, but  she  found  the  climate  too  trying  and  was 
unable  to  remain  tiiere.    So  when  she  realized  that 

377 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

the  Imperial  restoration  was  not  a  matter  of  the 
immediate  future,  she  returned  to  Paris  to  recruit 
her  health,  where  she  died  very  soon  afterwards. 
She  lived  a  somewhat  isolated  life  during  these  last 
months,  in  the  great  capital,  for  almost  every  one 
had  forgotten  her,  and  she  was  no  longer  needed 
by  those  who  had  showered  gifts  on  her  in  old  times. 
They  were  not  prone  to  recognize  her  now  that  she 
could  be  of  no  use  to  them.  It  must  be  admitted, 
too,  that  her  bad  temper  prevented  her  from  making 
fast  friends.  But  she  left  a  nice  little  fortune,  I 
am  told,  for  her  sister  and  her  niece,  who  had  re- 
mained in  Spain. 

The  one  great  quality  of  Mme.  Pollet  was,  as  I 
have  already  said,  her  unlimited  devotion  to  those 
whom  she  served.  She  would  incur  any  danger  for 
the  Empress,  and  yet  she  was  of  a  most  timid  tem- 
perament. She  was  often  teased  on  account  of  the 
ease  with  which  she  could  be  thrown  into  a  fright. 
If  some  one  of  the  Court  were  to  say:  "Why,  that 
curtain  is  moving!"  Mme.  Pollet  would  begin  to 
tremble,  and  grow  pale ;  and  if  the  Empress,  enter- 
ing into  the  spirit  of  the  joke,  should  add:  "Pepa, 
what  can  be  behind  that  curtain?"  the  poor  woman 
would  be  seized  with  real  terror.  She  would  go  to 
the  curtain,  and  lift  its  folds  with  trembling  hands, 
while  the  court  ladies,  delighted  with  the  success  of 
their  prank,  would  laugh  merrily;  and  Eugenie 
sometimes  participated  in  the  fun. 

Pepa's  peculiar  French,  and  her  queer  mistakes, 
due  to  ignorance  of  the  language  or  a  general  lack 
of  information,  also  often  provoked  mirth.  One 
example  of  this  is  worth  recording  here.  "When 
Cabanel  was  painting  a  portrait  of  the  Emperor,, 

.378 


THE  OFFICIAL  HOUSEHOLD 

the  Empress  told  the  celebrated  artist  to  ask  Mme. 
Pollet  for  all  the  accessories  he  might  require.  Con- 
sequently one  day  Cabanel  wrote  to  Pepa  asking 
her  to  let  him  have  the  hand  of  justice,  which  was 
to  be  painted  in  the  picture  with  the  crown  and 
scepter.  Much  mystified,  by  the  painter's  letter, 
Pepa  sought  one  of  the  ladies  in  waiting,  Mile.  Bou- 
vet,  and  raising  her  hands  to  heaven,  cried  out,  much 
agitated  and  with  an  unutterably  droll  accent:  *'La 
main  de  justice!  But  I  cannot  give  him  that.'* 
Gradually  calming  down,  she  finally  asked:  ''But, 
after  all,  what  is  the  hand  of  justice?"  And  when 
it  was  explained  to  her  that  M.  Cabanel  simply 
wanted  the  baton  anciently  used  by  kings,  which  had 
an  ivory  hand  at  the  end,  she  admitted  that  she 
thought  it  was  some  high  legal  position  and  that, 
on  no  account,  would  she  undertake  to  transmit  such 
a  request  to  the  Empress ! 

The  friends  who  are  interested  in  these  memoirs 
have  asked  me  to  include  in  them  something  on  fash- 
ions during  the  Second  Empire  and  to  go  into  de- 
tails concerning  Eugenie's  tastes  in  the  matter  of 
toilette  and  other  rather  private  topics,  which  I 
would  not  be  inclined  to  do  if  not  thus  pressed,  and 
if  I  did  not  know  that  these  notes  will  not  be  read 
by  the  larger  public  till  the  Empress  has  passed 
into  another  and  a  better  world.  And  then  again, 
I,  now  in  my  old  age,  am  speaking  of  things  which 
happened  back  in  my  youth,  when  Eugenie  was 
in  the  full  gaze  of  France  and  all  Europe,  for  it 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  when  the  Second  Empire 
was  at  its  zenith,  in  the  sixties,  it  was  the  cynosure 
of  all  eyes.     Thirdly,  in  a  chapter  on  Court  life, 

379 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

fashions,  perhaps,  have  their  rightful  place.  Such 
are  my  excuses,  rather  lame,  some  may  think,  for 
adding  these  more  trivial  notes  to  these  pages  of  a 
life  which  had  its  serious  side,  notwithstanding  the 
criticisms  of  some  of  her  detractors. 

I  cannot  conceive  of  a  state  of  society  worthy  of 
the  name  which  should  not  feel  that  its  rulers  should 
make  as  fine  an  appearance  as  possible  before  the 
world.  This  was  the  view  taken  by  the  great  Na- 
poleon and  by  his  nephew,  and  the  Empress  shared 
this  opinion  of  the  two  Emperors.  Elegant  clothes 
and  jewels  are  as  necessary  on  a  throne,  especially 
on  the  part  of  a  queen  or  empress,  as  intelligence 
and  popularity.  The  Court  which  preceded  that  of 
the  Second  Empire,  had  been  described  as  lacking 
in  elegance,  and  it  has  often  been  said  that  com- 
merce and  industry  in  France  and  particularly  in 
Paris  suffered  from  this  lack.  Napoleon's  Court, 
however,  has  sometimes  been  criticized  for  an  ex- 
cess of  luxury  and  elegance.  But  it  should  not  be 
forgotten  that  it  was,  in  this  particular,  simply  in 
accord  with  the  time.  Luxury  and  elegance  were 
then  predominant  and  are  still,  for  that  matter. 
Wealth  and  comfort  and  even  show  were  never  more 
prominent  than  to-day.  Neither  the  political  mis- 
fortunes of  1870,  the  uncertainty  of  the  European 
situation,  nor  the  instability  of  the  Third  Republic, 
has  attenuated  this  taste  for  fine  things,  display  and 
the  comforts  and  pleasures  brought  by  money.  It 
is  not  going  too  far,  perhaps,  to  say  that  elegance 
has  become  an  essential  part  of  the  modern  world 
and  the  life  of  all  nations.  But  it  is  going  to  much 
too  great  a  length  and  is  wholly  unjust  to  accuse 
the  Second  Empire  as  having  been  the  instrument 

380 


THE  OFFICIAL  HOUSEHOLD 

for  the  bringing  about  of  this  state  of  things.  Every 
thoughtful  person  knows  that  the  nearer  people  get 
to  the  quintessence  of  civilization  and  to  the  refine- 
ments thereof,  the  more  are  prized  the  arts,  style 
in  fashion,  fine  clothes,  rich  jewels.  The  sovereigns 
felt  that  it  was  the  duty  of  such  a  Court  as  was  that 
of  the  Tuileries,  in  a  country  where  commerce  and 
industry  are  so  eager  in  their  demands  for  encour- 
agement, to  give  an  impulse  to  trade  and  to  create 
as  far  as  we  could  a  market  for  the  more  expensive 
products.  And  I  think  that  I  may  say  that  they 
were  eminently  successful  in  this  effort.  Many  large 
fortunes  were  made  at  Lyons  and  elsewhere  be- 
cause of  the  support  of  the  elite  of  the  population, 
the  fashions  of  the  hour  calling  for  beautiful  ma- 
terials, for  silks  and  rich  fabrics  of  all  kinds. 

The  Empress'  efforts  in  this  direction  gave  rise 
to  many  legends.  Party  pamphleteers  went  so  far 
as  to  declare  that  she  gave  up  her  whole  time  to  the 
devising  of  new  gowns.  Such  phrases  as  these  are 
scattered  through  certain  sheets  of  the  period:  "the 
frivolity  of  the  Empress,"  "her  immoderate  love  of 
fine  clothes,"  "her  never-satisfied  desire  for  luxuri- 
ous things,"  "her  custom  of  never  wearing  the  same 
dress  twice."  It  is  true  that  Eugenie  often  changed 
her  attire ;  it  was  a  duty  imposed  by  her  station.  It 
is  also  of  course  true  that  she  possessed  a  large 
number  of  costumes  of  all  kinds.  How  could  it  have 
been  otherwise?  l>ut  these  were  not  all  full-dress 
gowns.  In  tlie  ordinary  home  life  at  the  Tuileries 
and  in  the  summer  retreats,  Eugenie's  attire  was 
always  simple  and  in  no  way  outdid  the  dress  of  the 
persons  who  surrounded  her.  It  often  happened 
that  it  was  only  the  external  part  of  her  attire  which 

381 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

was  elegant.  A  rich  mantle  often  covered  a  very 
modest  gown.  When  the  Empress  drove  out,  espe- 
cially at  Paris,  her  hat  and  cloak  were  handsome, 
but  generally  she  w^as  not  otherwise  "dressed  up." 
I  dislike  to  touch  on  the  more  personal  side  of  the 
subject;  but  so  many  idle  stories  were  circulated 
during  the  reign  and  so  many  of  them  are  still  alive, 
that  it  has  seemed  to  me  that  I  am  doing  my  duty 
not  only  by  the  Empress  but  by  the  regime,  in  de- 
claring most  of  them  to  be  wholly  false  and  all  of 
them  to  be  exaggerated  grossly. 

It  will  be  pleasanter  for  me  now  to  devote  a  few 
paragraphs  to  the  more  general  theme  of  fashion 
and  dress  under  the  Second  Empire,  when  what  was 
worn  at  the  state  balls  and  great  public  ceremonies 
was  often  the  talk  of  all  Europe. 

When  one  speaks  of  fashion,  it  is  often  difficult 
to  refrain  from  criticism  and  a  smile.  The  elegant 
women  of  to-day,  with  their  dresses  which  are  more 
or  less  tight-fitting — little  by  little  w^e  are  returning 
to  more  amjjle  and  becoming  shapes — cannot  under- 
stand how  any  one  could  have  worn  those  wire  cages 
called  crinolines,  which  held  up  a  whole  shopful  of 
material !  Three  ladies  so  attired  used  to  fill  up  the 
space  of  a  moderate-sized  room!  What  quantities 
of  material  w^ere  there  and  what  a  variety, — cun- 
ningly arranged  draperies,  fringes,  ruchings,  pleats, 
real  or  imitation  laces,  the  whole  ending  in  a  long 
train  which  it  was  no  easy  task  to  pull  about  with 
one. 

There  was  a  mixture  of  all  styles  during  the  Sec- 
ond Empire.  You  saw  Renaissance  sleeves,  Louis 
XVI  panniers,  Grecian  draperies  and  those  little 
basques  formerly  worn  by  ladies  of  the  time  of  the 

382 


THE  OFFICIAL  HOUSEHOLD 

Fronde.  It  must  be  admitted  that  it  was  not  an  easy 
task,  with  such  cumbersome  and  varied  elements,  to 
offer  an  elegant  deportment  and  to  make  a  charming 
appearance.  Success  depended  on  gracefulness  of 
gesture,  on  carriage,  on  a  sliding  motion  in  one's 
step,  on  a  svelt  form  and  a  supple  bust.  In  the 
evening,  when  shoulders  were  bared,  and  the  easy 
movements  of  the  bodj^  were  possible,  the  silhouette 
was  more  attractive;  and,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
panniers  and  the  crinolines,  the  dresses  of  that  day 
would  not  have  been  ugly  for  dinner  and  after-din- 
ner wear. 

During  the  Second  Empire,  it  was  quite  a  feat  to 
walk  w^lien  you  were  forced  to  carry  about  with  you 
such  an  unnatural  rotundity  as  that  of  the  crino- 
line. When  you  sat  down,  you  had  to  guard  against 
the  flying  up  or  out  of  the  rebellious  wires.  To  get 
into  a  carriage  without  making  a  mess  of  it  required 
not  a  little  skill,  especially  as  many  dresses  were 
made  of  very  light  materials,  such  as  tulle,  gauze 
and  lace.  Husbands  and  fathers  needed  to  be  blessed 
with  a  large  stock  of  patience  and  restive  horses  had 
to  be  well  trained,  for  considerable  time  and  much 
fine  calculation  were  necessary  on  these  trying  occa- 
sions. It  was  almost  impossible  to  shake  hands  with 
a  child  and  very  difficult  to  take  a  gentleman's  arm. 
In  fact  from  this  moment  dates  the  custom  which 
prevails  to-day  of  not  offering  the  arm  in  a  drawing- 
room  and  particularly  in  the  street. 

The  inventor  of  the  crinoline  was  Auguste  Person, 
who  died  not  many  years  ago  in  Champagne  at  the 
advanced  ago  of  almost  eighty,  I  am  told.  I  have 
also  heard  that  he  did  not  make  much  money  from 
his  invention,  for  he  sold  tiie  patent  for  four  thou- 

383 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

sand  francs.  But  those  who  bought  it  gained  over 
a  million.  For  its  popularity  grew  very  rapidly. 
Toward  1860,  all  the  elegant  ladies  were  submissive 
to  the  tyranny  of  this  very  wide  piece  of  stiff  twill, 
surrounded  with  metal  hoops.  The  crinoline  was  at 
first  called  in  France  * '  a  cage, ' '  and  the  women  who 
put  on  the  new  invention  were  said  to  be  "caged." 
It  is  easy  to  imagine  the  wit  indulged  in  at  their  ex- 
pense. One  of  the  "funny  writers"  of  the  Paris 
press  likened  gossiping  paroquets  to  "the  bearers  of 
the  cage, ' '  the  new-fashioned  petticoat.  All  this  talk 
about  it  caused  the  article  to  sell  and  hence  the  rea- 
son why,  commercially,  the  invention  was  most 
profitable. 

This  strange  fashion  had  been  set  by  tall,  stout 
women  who  are  always  very  influential  in  the  ele- 
gant world;  but  it  was  soon  followed  by  all.  Thin, 
small  women  persuaded  themselves  that  "it  suited 
their  style  of  beauty,"  which  was  not  the  case;  and 
though  their  husbands  and  brothers  protested  and 
rifdiculed  them,  still  the  crinoline  continued  to  hold 
its  sway.  The  Nain  Jaiine,  Charivari^  and  Figaro, 
the  annual  theatrical  "review^s,"  and  more  preten- 
tious plays  like  that  of  Blum  at  the  Vie  Parisienne 
— all  made  fun  of  the  innovation,  but  its  vogue  did 
not  begin  to  wane  till  towards  the  end  of  the  Em- 
pire. Surprise  is  now  sometimes  expressed  that  it 
lasted  so  long. 

A  friend  has  told  me  of  a  play  given  at  a  fash- 
ionable Paris  club  in  1878,  where,  for  one  of  the 
scenes,  John  Lewis  Brown  sketched  two  pictures. 
Both  represented  women  of  the  world.  In  the  one, 
the  woman  was  spread  out  in  a  crinoline  of  the  time 
of  the  Second  Empire,  while  in  the  other,  the  woman 

384 


THE  OFFICIAL  HOUSEHOLD 

was  attired  in  the  tightly  squeezing,  narrow  cling- 
ing skirts  then  in  fashion.  Though  not  ten  years 
had  passed  since  the  ladies  had  allowed  themselves 
to  be  dressed  as  in  the  first  instance,  the  actresses 
who  were  to  take  part  in  the  play  exclaimed:  "How 
could  we  have  allowed  ourselves  to  be  made  such 
frights  of?"  And  somebody  present  well  remarked: 
"The  same  thing  will  be  said  in  another  decade  of 
the  present  fashion,  which  goes  to  the  other  ex- 
treme," Both  criticisms,  it  seems  to  me,  were  just. 
Some  years  ago,  an  effort  was  made  to  bring  back 
the  crinoline,  though  in  less  exaggerated  propor- 
tions. But,  fortunately,  the  attempt  failed.  And 
yet,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  fashion  was  becom- 
ing to  certain  women.  All  of  them  did  not  appear 
ridiculous  in  crinolines.  At  the  court  of  the 
Tuileries,  where  dress  was  never  carried  too  far,  it 
cannot  be  said  that  the  crinoline  was  ugly.  The  Em- 
press was  not  able  to  ignore  the  fashion  but  she  al- 
ways kept  the  crinoline  within  reasonable  bounds. 
Its  final  suppression,  I  always  considered  to  be  due 
to  "Worth,  who  was  really  a  great  fashion-maker. 
He  did  much  to  revive  a  taste  for  grace  in  attire. 
He  modified  the  size  of  the  skirt,  while  he  gradually 
molded  the  shape  of  the  body.  Little  by  little  he 
diminished  the  immense  circumference  of  the  hoops 
until  they  were  quite  done  avv'ay  with,  or  were  re- 
placed by  light  cage-like  affairs  which  held  up  the 
train  behind.  This  sort  of  "dress  improver"  held 
its  ground  for  a  few  years  longer,  and  then  it,  too, 
was  at  last  abandoned.  Though  this  improver  may 
be  said  to  have  been  abnormal,  it  was  not  wholly  in- 
artistic in  some  respects  and  on  some  persons.  Per- 
haps the  Empress'  own  liking  for  short  skirts,  which 

385 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

all  wore  for  walking  at  Saint  Cloud,  Fontainebleau 
and  Compiegne,  had  something  to  do  with  this  grad- 
ual modification  of  this  portion  of  woman's  attire. 
Towards  1860,  women's  hats  were  high  pyramids 
covered  with  fruit  and  flowers.  They  were  very 
heavy  and  enlarged  the  head  to  a  disproportionate 
size.  This  fashion,  too,  was  destined  to  be  changed 
little  by  little.  It  was  mainly  to  Mme.  Virot  that 
the  transformation  of  hats  under  the  Empire  was 
due.  She  threw  open  to  view  the  back  of  the  neck 
by  doing  away  with  the  streamers  or  bavolets — 
a  stiff  pleated  piece  of  material  which  enwrapped 
the  neck  and  shoulders.  The  hats  then  became  little 
string-bonnets,  rather  flat,  and  framing  the  face 
artistically,  showing  the  hair.  Here,  as  in  every- 
thing else,  *he  style  was  exaggerated  in  some  cases, 
and  the  hats  were  so  flat  that  they  were  called 
** plates."  But  on  the  whole,  this  style  of  hat  was 
becoming,  was  pretty  and  worn  for  a  long  time. 
They  underwent  many  little  changes  and  the  strings 
were  gradually  suppressed.  Nowadays,  women  of  a 
certain  age  wear  these  little  bonnets  and  efforts 
have  been  made  to  render  them  fashionable  for  the 
theaters,  where  high  hats  are  such  a  nuisance.  But 
this  effort,  unfortunately,  has  not  met  with  success. 
The  large  Gainsborough  hats  and  the  Louis  XVI 
shapes  of  the  day,  with  their  mass  of  feathers,  flow- 
ers and  fur  tails,  are  the  fortune  of  the  milliners, 
who  will,  of  course,  keep  them  in  fashion  as  long  as 
possible.  If  you  compare  them  with  the  creations  of 
Virot  or  Ode,  you  will  find  that  hats  to-day  cost  three 
or  four  times  more  than  they  did  under  the  Second 
Empire,  and  yet  there  are  people  who  ever  harp  on 
the  ** extravagance  of  the  Empire." 

386 


THE  OFFICIAL  HOUSEHOLD 

For  traveling,  and  for  walks  at  Compiegne  and 
the  other  country  residences,  the  Empress  wore 
an  oval-shaped  hat,  of  medium  size,  adorned  with 
ribbon  bows  and  feathers  of  moderate  length.  These 
hats  kept  in  fashion  for  some  time.  They  are  rela- 
tively simple,  very  practical  and  generally  becom- 
ing to  the  face. 

The  evening  head  dress  was  usually  round  dia- 
dems of  flowers  in  which  were  placed  diamonds  like 
drops  of  dew.  This  style  was  very  becoming  to 
young  faces.  Older  ladies  wore  crowns  of  foliage 
or  jeweled  diadems.  Eugenie  always  liked  to  see 
her  ladies  attired  in  a  way  fitting  their  years.  If 
there  was  a  thing  that  she  particularly  disliked,  it 
was  to  see  young  attire  on  those  who  were  no  longer 
youthful.  I  can  never  forget  how  her  excellent  read- 
er, Comtesse  de  Wagner,  forgetting  this  rule  on  one 
occasion,  appeared  one  evening,  when  she  had 
passed  seventy,  got  up  in  tulle,  trimmed  with  red 
ribbons  and  with  a  nimbus  of  white  roses  round  her 
head,  like  Ophelia!  The  Empress  really  could  not 
go  near  her  the  whole  evening. 

Eugenie  went  over  her  wardrobe  twice  each  year 
and  the  dresses  which  could  not  be  worn  again  were 
distributed  among  the  waiting-women,  who,  I  be- 
lieve, disposed  of  them  at  advantageous  rates.  Two 
rooms  of  the  wardrobe  apartments  in  the  palace 
were  used  as  work-rooms  for  the  dress-makers. 
Here  the  Empress  could  have  gowns  made  up  in  her 
own  way.  At  the  moment  of  the  change  of  the  sea- 
sons, shopmen  were  received  in  these  rooms,  and 
then  it  was  that  she  chose  materials  and  ordered 
a  certain  number  of  costumes.  It  was  also  in  these 
rooms  that  the  Empress  would  try  them  on  when 

387 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPEESS  EUGENIE 

they  were  finished.  Adjoining  rooms  were  provided 
with  oak  closets  with  sliding  doors,  and  here  the 
gowns  w^ere  kept  till  wanted. 

It  was  the  custom  at  the  Tuileries  and  the  other 
Imperial  residences  for  the  Empress  to  appear  in 
low-neck  attire  in  the  evening.  When  the  company 
was  small  and  during  the  winter  season,  she  gen- 
erally put  on  a  long  gown  of  black  or  blue  velvet 
or  of  plain  w^hite  satin,  and  also  some  jewels,  one  of 
her  favorites  being  the  clover  leaf  in  emeralds  and 
diamonds  which  w^as  her  first  gift  from  the  Em- 
peror. She  wore  sometimes  w^hat  she  used  to  call 
''political  gowns."  They  were  of  heavy  brocade 
and  lampas  materials,  rather  sumptuous  and  un- 
wieldy, but  very  etfective,  on  the  wiiole,  I  have  al- 
ways thought.  The  Emperor  especially  liked  these 
gowns.  They  were  ordered  mainly  to  encourage 
the  Lyons  silk  trade,  and  were  more  richly  decorated 
than  most  of  her  gowns,  with  passementerie  and 
lace. 

The  Empress  never  cared  for  loose  morning  robes 
and,  in  fact,  never  possessed  a  dressing-gown.  She 
used  the  ordinary  linen  wraps  which  are  generally 
employed  w^hen  dressing.  The  real  reason  for  this 
w^as  that  she  always  preferred  to  dress  fully  the 
first  thing  in  the  morning.  Perhaps  I  ought  to 
amend  this  statement  by  saying  that  in  1865,  the 
Empress  did  have  a  dressing-gown  for  a  short  time. 
The  Prince  Imperial  had  caught  the  measles  and  she 
wished  to  be  near  him  during  the  night.  So  the 
reader,  Mme.  Carette,  went  to  the  Louvre  shops  and 
chose  a  ready-made  red  flannel  dressing-gown,  which 
Eugenie  found  very  convenient. 

Of  course  she  had  to  use  a  great  many  pairs  of 

388 


THE  OFFICIAL  HOUSEHOLD 

shoes.  The  soiled  ones  were  given  to  the  orphan- 
age Eugene  Napoleon,  founded  with  the  money 
which  the  City  of  Paris  had  wished  to  spend  on  a 
necklace  at  the  moment  of  her  marriage.  The  white 
shoes  were  always  kept  for  the  young  orphan  girls 
who  had  arrived  at  the  age  for  celebrating  their  first 
communion. 

The  Emperor  and  the  Empress  always  held  that, 
as  rulers  of  France,  their  duties  were  much  more 
than  political,  especially  in  a  country  where  art  and 
letters  stood  so  high.  They  tried  to  spread  about 
our  Court  an  atmosphere  that  was,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, all-embracing.  Thus,  as  has  already  been 
seen,  the  Empress  took  a  particular  interest  in  the 
fashions  and  did  what  she  could  to  keep  Paris  the 
world's  center,  for  all  that  pertained  to  feminine 
attire;  and  in  this  effort  it  was  generally  conceded 
that  she  was  on  the  whole  successful.  But  they  also 
gave  much  attention  to  art  and  above  all  to  dramatic 
art.  The  theaters,  actors  and  actresses  of  Paris 
had  been  famous  under  all  regimes,  and  during  the 
Second  Empire  the  high  standard  was  carefully  kept 
up.  Nor  was  it  French  talent  alone  which  was  wel- 
comed before  the  Paris  footliglits.  Dramatic  ar- 
tists from  several  foreign  lands  were  applauded  by 
French  audiences,  and  they  often  owed  their  invi- 
tation to  Paris  either  directly  or  indirectly  to  the 
expressed  wishes  of  the  Tuileries.  A  good  example 
of  this  was  given  in  1855  during  the  Exhibition  of 
that  year,  when  occurred  a  series  of  dramatic  per- 
formances which  were  most  interesting  in  every 
respect.  The  incidents  connected  therewith  will  il- 
lustrate the  intimate  connection  whicli  then  existed 
between  the  Court  and  the  theatrical  world  wliicli  is 

389 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGExXIE 

the  excuse  for  the  introduction  of  the  subject  in  this 
chapter. 

The  famous  Rachel  was  on  the  point  of  leaving 
for  a  long  vacation  which  had  been  granted  her  by 
the  management  of  the  Comedie  Frangaise.  It 
turned  out  to  be  an  eternal  vacation,  since  she  came 
home  only  to  die.  But  before  she  went,  at  the  request 
of  the  Court,  she  played  for  an  entire  month  the 
great  works  of  Corneille  and  Racine  in  which  she 
excelled.  After  the  performance  of  Phedre,  which 
was  a  veritable  triumph,  she  was  really  free,  but 
consented  in  June  to  reappear  at  a  gala  evening 
given  in  honor  of  the  King  of  Portugal  and  the 
Duke  of  Oporto.  The  Emperor  and  the  Empress 
were  present  and  led  in  the  applause.  The  spec- 
tacle included  a  Hommage  a  Corneille,  the  Menteur, 
and  Horace. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  this  was  not  her  last  appear- 
ance, certain  circumstances  having  determined 
Rachel  to  remain  some  time  longer  at  Paris.  It  was 
due,  in  fact,  to  a  sort  of  competition  between  Rachel 
and  Ristori  which  gave  the  public  many  fine  plays, 
greatly  to  the  delight  of  Parisian  society  and  the 
Court. 

Ristori,  Marquise  Capranica  del  Grillo,  who  died 
in  1906,  over  eighty  years  old,  had  just  carried  off 
a  series  of  victories  at  the  Salle  Ventadour  in  Fran- 
cesca  di  Rimini,  Maria  Stuardo,  and  other  parts. 
She  was  then  the  idol  of  Paris;  Lamartine  wrote 
verses  to  her,  and  at  one  time  it  was  thought  she 
might  appear  at  the  Theatre  Frangais.  There  were 
endless  discussions  concerning  the  talents  of  the  two 
great  artists.  The  Court  was  particularly  interested 
in  these  honors  shown  the  celebrated  Italian  trag- 

390 


THE  OFFICIAL  HOUSEHOLD 

edienne.  The  Emperor  was  then  accused  in  certain 
circles  in  Italy  of  not  doing  all  that  was  expected  of 
him  in  the  matter  of  bringing  about  a  sort  of  politi- 
cal side  to  it — the  Court  did  not  let  slip  this  occasion 
to  please  the  Italian  nation  by  honoring  one  of  its 
great  actresses.  The  Emperor  and  the  Empress 
naturally  led  "in  this  good  work"  as  the  Emperor 
called  it. 

Alexandre  Dumas  even  maintained  that  Ristori 
was  superior  to  Rachel.  This  the  sovereigns  both 
thought  privately  was  perhaps  going  a  little  too  far. 
The  celebrated  story-teller  proposed  a  performance 
at  the  Opera  in  which  the  two  tragediennes  would 
appear, — Ristori  in  Maria  Stuardo  by  Maffei, 
Rachel  in  Marie  Stuart  by  Lebrun.  Unfortunately, 
this  proposal  gave  rise  to  much  discussion,  and 
many  articles  more  or  less  bitter  were  written  in 
the  newspapers  by  the  partisans  of  both  the  great 
artists.  The  Court  deeply  regretted  all  this.  Of 
course,  the  proposed  performance  at  the  Opera  did 
not  take  place.  But  Rachel  was  at  length  aroused 
and  took  up  the  gauntlet.  She  went  secretly  to  see 
her  rival  play  at  the  Salle  Ventadour;  she  heard  the 
loud  cheers,  the  encores — and  she  fainted ! 

The  result  of  this  was  that  Rachel  made  another 
appearance  on  the  scene.  She  wished  to  see  if  she 
had  lost  her  former  power  and  to  make  a  supreme 
appeal  to  the  public  who  seemed  to  be  falling  away 
from  her.  She  had  a  great  success  in  her  classical 
parts,  in  Marie  Stuart,  and  especially  in  Phedre, 
which  she  played  twice;  in  Andromaque,  and  the 
Moineau  de  Lesbie.  The  Emperor  and  the  Em- 
press were  present  at  several  of  those  performances 

391 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

and  we  showed  the  veteran  actress  that  she  was  fully 
appreciated  at  Court. 

A  few  days  after  this  triumph  Rachel  left  for 
America.  In  January,  1858,  she  succumbed  to  the 
malady  of  which  she  had  felt  the  first  attacks  three 
years  before,  and  which  her  American  tour  accele- 
rated. She  remembered  in  her  will  the  Emperor 
whom  she  admired  and  to  whom  she  left  a  bust  of 
Napoleon  I  by  Canova.  The  Emperor  was  much 
touched  by  this  act  of  the  great  tragedienne  whom 
he  had  so  often  applauded,  and  always  felt  that  this 
delicate  attention  w^as  paid  him  for  the  part  he  and 
the  Empress  took  in  the  famous  competition  of  the 
summer  of  1855. 


CHAPTER  XV 

EPISODES  IN"  THE  EMPEKOR's  LIFE 

The  long  range  of  buildings  designed  by  the 
architect  Visconti  to  connect  the  Louvre  and  Tuile- 
ries,  was  completed  in  1857  and  on  August  14th  in 
that  year  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress  presided  at 
the  ceremony  of  their  inauguration.  "When,  on  July 
25,  1852,  Napoleon  III  laid  the  foundation  stone,  he 
expressed  the  hope  that  the  work  would  be  com- 
pleted in  five  years'  time,  and  his  desire  had  been 
fulfilled,  thanks  first  of  all  to  Visconti,  and,  after  the 
death  of  the  famous  architect,  which  occurred  in 
1853,  to  Lefuel,  who  carried  on  the  undertaking  to 
the  end,  with  unflagging  zeal.  In  the  beautifying  of 
Paris,  Napoleon  III  took  as  his  model  his  great 
uncle.  When  a  work  w^as  to  be  done,  he  asked  expert 
opinion  as  to  the  shortest,  not  the  longest,  time  re- 
quired to  accomplish  it,  and  then  he  required  that  it 
be  done  within  this  promised  period  and  would  take 
no  excuse  for  any  failure  to  keep  the  promise.  The 
conduct  of  this  Louvre-Tuileries  work  was  a  good 
example  of  the  Emperor's  energy  and  expedition. 
No  effort  was  spared  to  hasten  its  completion.  One 
hundred  and  fifty  sculptors  and  a  host  of  decorators 
labored  ceaselessly  at  the  execution  of  the  design, 
which  comprised  no  less  than  fifteen  hundred  sepa- 
rate objects  for  carving.  During  the  year  1857  the 
number  of  workmen's  days  reached  three  hundred 

393 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

and  thirteen  thousand  exclusive  of  joiners,  carpen- 
ters, and  others.  But  the  object  was  attained  and  the 
building  was  completed  within  the  given  time.  It 
cost  thirty-six  millions  of  francs,  and  besides  a  beau- 
tiful building,  uniting  the  two  palaces,  it  opened  up 
two  new  roadways  to  the  public,  one  under  the 
Pavilion  Sully  for  pedestrians  and  the  other  under 
the  Pavilion  Richelieu  for  vehicles.  Napoleon  right- 
fully considered  this  work  one  of  the  finest  material 
successes  of  his  reign  and  more  than  once,  on  look- 
ing out  of  the  Tuileries  windows  on  these  beautiful 
fresh  fronts,  did  he  express  aloud  his  enthusiasm 
and  contentment. 

He  was  wont  to  recall  with  keen  pleasure  the 
ceremonies  of  that  day.  It  was  two  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  of  August  14th,  that  the  Emperor  and  the 
Empress,  accompanied  by  princes  and  princesses  of 
the  Imperial  family  and  their  households,  left  the 
Tuileries,  passed  beneath  the  Triumphal  Arch  on 
the  east  side  of  the  Tuileries  and  entered  the  Louvre 
by  the  Pavilion  Denon.  The  State  Minister,  M. 
Fould,  and  the  grand  officers  of  the  Crowm  awaited 
their  arrival  and  conducted  them  through  the  gallery 
which  was  destined  to  become  a  Museum  of  Sculp- 
ture, up  the  staircase  of  the  Pavilion  Moliere, 
whence  they  entered  processionally  into  the  grand 
hall  where  the  ceremony  was  to  take  place.  During 
this  whole  w^alk.  Napoleon  spoke  on  art  with  those 
about  him  and  displayed  his  wonderful  knowledge 
of  out-of-the-way  tine  art  subjects. 

Seats  had  been  placed  opposite  the  throne  for  the 
artists  and  workmen  who  had  contributed  by  their 
talent  or  their  labor  to  the  construction  of  the  edi- 
fice.   The  Emp3ror  especially  commanded  that  the 

394 


EPISODES  IN  THE  EMPEROR'S  LIFE 

latter  be  given  a  worthy  part  in  the  proceedings. 
There  was  always  a  strong  democratic  strain  run- 
ning through  all  that  Napoleon  III  thought  and  did. 
The  Minister  of  State  made  a  speech,  describing  the 
Emperor's  plans  and  the  manner  in  which  they  had 
been  executed,  after  which  a  number  of  medals  and 
awards  were  distributed,  and  every  one  of  the  arti- 
sans, contractors  and  workmen  was  called  up  to  the 
platform  to  receive  from  the  Emperor's  own  hand 
the  reward  which  had  been  allotted  to  him.  Then 
came  the  sovereign's  speech,  recalling  the  different 
phases  through  which  the  Louvre  passed  under  the 
Monarchy,  the  Empire  and  the  Republic.  '  ^  The  com- 
pletion of  the  Louvre,"  he  said  in  conclusion,  ''is 
not  the  caprice  of  a  moment,  it  is  the  realization  of 
a  plan  conceived  for  the  greater  glory  of  France, 
and  sustained  by  the  interest  of  our  country  during 
more  than  three  hundred  years." 

It  was  a  day  of  enthusiastic  rejoicing.  That  eve- 
ning, a  banquet,  presided  over  by  M.  Fould,  was 
given,  the  greater  number  of  the  four  hundred  and 
seventy  guests  present  being  workmen ;  among  these 
was  a  woman,  the  widow  of  a  sawyer  who,  on  the 
death  of  her  husband,  had  obtained  permission  to 
take  his  place  at  the  works.  She  was  present  as  the 
Empress'  guest  and  at  her  special  request.  When, 
the  next  day,  the  Emperor  read  in  the  public  prints 
the  account  of  this  banquet  and  learned  of  the  pres- 
ence of  "your  widow,"  as  he  said  quizzingly  to  the 
Empress,  he  remarked  with  a  smile:  "Well,  you  see, 
there  must  always  be  a  woman  in  it." 

August  15th,  the  birthday  of  Napoleon  and  the 
national  holiday  of  the  Second  Empire,  was  cele- 
brated with  greater  enthusiasm  than  usual  this  year. 

395 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

The  Parisians  flocked  to  the  Carrousel  to  see  the 
Louvre  and  Tuileries  now  joined  in  one  great  build- 
ing, remembering  the  houses  of  all  kinds,  shops  and 
bazaars,  which  five  years  before  obstructed  the 
space  now  occupied  by  superb  squares  and  gardens. 
Everj'body  was  high  in  praise  of  the  splendid  trans- 
formation and  the  name  of  the  author  of  it  all  was  on 
every  lip.  The  festivities  closed  by  the  Emperor 
himself  distributing  the  medal  of  Saint  Helena, 
■which  he  had  just  instituted  for  the  old  comrades  in 
arms  of  Napoleon  I,  to  many  military  notabilities 
such  as  King  Jerome,  Marshal  Vaillant,  Admiral 
Hamelin,  Marshal  Baraguay  d'Hilliers,  Admiral 
Perceval  Deschene,  General  Due  de  Plaisance,  and 
General  d'Ornano,  names  which  mean  much  for  dif- 
ferent reasons  to  all  the  friends  of  Bonapartism. 

The  inauguration  of  ^'the  new  Louvre"  was, 
therefore,  one  of  those  many  red-letter  days  w^hich 
characterized  the  early  years  of  the  Second  Empire, 
on  the  memory  of  which  the  Emperor  loved  to  dwell 
in  the  stormier  years  which  followed.  ''When  I  said 
that  the  Empire  stands  for  Peace,"  he  once  re- 
marked, ''this  is  w^iat  I  meant  by  that  much  ridi- 
culed phrase.  If  wars  came,  it  was  not  by  my  seek- 
ing. I  much  preferred  events  like  this  splendid 
artistic  ceremony.  We  had  many  such  during  the 
Second  Empire,  and  we  would  have  had  nothing  else 
if  I  could  have  had  my  way.  But  circumstances  were 
often  stronger  than  individual  desires." 

Ever  since  the  end  of  the  war  in  Italy  in  1859,  the 
Emperor  had  cherished  the  thought  of  wanting  a 
history  of  Julius  Cresar.  He  recollected  that  Na- 
poleon at  St.  Helena  had  complained  of  many  omis- 
sions in  the  Commentaries,  and,  moreover,  the  strik- 

396 


EPISODES  IN  THE  EMPEROR'S  LIFE 

ing  individuality  of  the  Conqueror  of  Gaul  attracted 
him  singularly.  So,  filled  with  enthusiasm,  he  drew 
up  a  plan  of  his  intended  work,  in  accordance  with 
which  it  should  comprise  two  distinct  parts — the  war 
against  Gaul,  and  the  Civil  War,  with  a  description 
of  Rome  and  of  the  world  in  general  at  the  time  of 
Capsar's  greatest  power  and  fame. 

The  work  was  commenced  in  1860.  The  Emperor 
and  his  collaborators,  M.  Mocquard,  his  principal 
private  secretary,  and  M.  Maury,  librarian  at  the 
Tuileries,  member  of  the  Institute  and  later  direc- 
tor of  the  archives,  started  researches  in  all  the  chief 
libraries  of  Europe  and  especially  in  those  of  Paris 
and  Rome,  for  everything  that  might  in  any  way 
relate  to  the  subject  in  question — manuscripts, 
plans,  maps  and  drawings.  M.  Reynier  at  the  Vat- 
ican, and  M.  Renan  at  the  Paris  National  Library, 
hunted  for  details  with  the  greatest  care  and  inde- 
fatigability. 

Topography  and  the  question  of  fortifications 
were  both  to  be  treated  with  much  detail  in  this  re- 
constitution  of  the  life  of  Ca?sar.  Quite  by  chance 
the  Emperor  discovered  an  exceedingly  devoted  and 
very  competent  military  collaborator  in  the  person 
of  Baron  Stoffcl,  captain  in  the  artillery  stationed 
at  Auxonne,  whore  he  occupied  his  leisure  hours, 
which  are  not  few  in  a  garrison  life,  by  writing  a 
very  complete  and  learned  book  on  the  fortifications 
of  Alesia,  the  famous  fortified  capital  of  Vercinge- 
torix,  the  Gallic  leader  w^ho  was  defeated  by  Caesar. 
His  treatise  was  submitted  to  the  Emperor  for  ap- 
proval. Napoleon  found  it  most  interesting  and  had 
it  published  in  full  in  the  Moyiiteur,  the  official  .jour- 
nal of  the  Empire.  lie  tlien  invited  Baron  Stoffel  to 

397 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

enter  the  Imperial  military  household  and  entrusted 
him  with  a  series  of  topographical  missions  in 
various  parts  of  ancient  Gaul,  and  later  on,  in  Italy. 
By  this  means,  the  plans  of  battles,  which  are  only 
vaguely  indicated  in  the  CommeTitaries,  were  fully 
described.  Baron  Stoffel  also  undertook  extensive 
researches  of  a  more  literary  nature,  and  when  the 
Emperor,  for  political  reasons,  finally  abandoned 
the  idea  of  the  second  portion  of  the  proposed  work, 
this  officer  published  under  his  own  name  a  History 
of  the  Civil  War,  derived  from  notes  prepared  by 
the  Emperor  himself,  or  by  those  acting  under  his 
orders. 

Some  curiosity  has  at  times  been  expressed  as  to 
who  were  the  other  collaborators  of  the  Emperor  in 
this  important  literary  undertaking.  I  am  in  a  posi- 
tion to  give  the  facts  on  this  point. 

To  the  three  principal  collaborators  who  have  just 
been  named,  may  be  added  Prosper  Merimee,  who 
gave  many  suggestions  and  abandoned  his  intention 
of  publishing  a  Roman  history,  for  which  he  had 
already  collected  a  large  amount  of  material.  M. 
Victor  Duruy,  the  distinguished  historian  and  Min- 
ister of  Public  Instruction  under  the  Empire,  had 
numerous  conversations  on  the  subject  with  Napo- 
leon III,  and  gave  him  valuable  notes  set  out  in  the 
form  of  questions  and  answers.  M.  de  Saulcy,  the 
well-known  antiquarian,  undertook  the  numismatic 
part  of  the  labor,  w^hich  he  was  well  qualified  to  do. 

Besides  consulting  Duruy  and  other  historians 
who  had  written  on  Roman  history,  from  Lamartine 
to  the  Comte  de  Champagny  and  M.  Troplong,  the 
well-known  juriscovsvlte,  the  Emperor  examined 
carefully  the  works  of  Mommsen,  the  great  German 

398 


EPISODES  IN  THE  EMPEROR'S  LIFE 

historian.  A  young  man  attached  to  the  Louvre  Mu- 
seum, M.  Frohner,  who  was  highly  recommended  by 
the  Grand  Duke  of  Baden,  came  several  times  each 
week  to  the  Tuileries  and  spent  several  hours  trans- 
lating and  commenting  on  the  opinions  of  the  Ger- 
man writer. 

At  this  period  the  Emperor  left  the  Empress' 
apartments  about  eight  o'clock,  every  evening,  and 
remained  in  his  private  apartments  till  a  very  late 
hour.  But  if  he  ceased  writing  before  half  past 
eleven,  he  would  often  return  for  a  cup  of  tea  with 
Eugenie  and  her  friends;  otherwise  he  would  go  on 
working  till  the  small  hours  of  the  morning.  The 
chief  valet,  Felix,  had  great  trouble  in  drawing  him 
from  his  labor.  "Sire,"  he  would  say,  ''it  is  mid- 
night," or  "half  past  twelve"  or  "past  one 
o'clock,"  as  the  case  might  be,  adding  a  moment 
after:  "His  Majesty's  doctors  have  prohibited  such 
late  work."  "Yes,  yes,  but  this  isn't  work,"  replied 
the  Emperor  smiling;  and  he  would  often  remain  a 
considerable  time  longer  at  his  writing  table. 

But,  notwithstanding  these  late  watches,  the  Fiui- 
peror  always  rose  early.  And  yet,  at  this  very 
moment,  his  enemies  accused  him  of  leading  a  life 
entirely  devoted  to  pleasure  and  laziness.  How  little 
they  knew  him,  and  how  little  they  knew  of  many  of 
the  other  virtues  which  dwelt  witliin  tlie  four  walls 
of  the  Tuileries,  whei'e  these  ill-judging  critics  pre- 
tended to  see  only  unworthiness.  Nothing  pained  the 
Emperor  and  the  l-^mpross  more  than  tliese  unfair 
and  unfriendly  judgments. 

Besides  these  scholars  and  archivists  wiio  lent 
their  competent  collaboration  to  tlie  Emperor,  he 
always  counted  among  his  most  valued  cooperators 

399 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

M.  Anselme  Petetin,  director  of  the  Imperial  Prints 
ing  Office,  who  personally  supervised  the  press-work, 
which  was  most  beautifully  executed,  and  M.  Pran- 
ceschini  Pietri,  who  had  been  for  some  years  one  of 
the  Emperor's  most  trusted  private  secretaries  and 
who  acted  as  an  intelligent  intermediary  between  the 
Emperor  and  his  correspondents  or  artists. 

The  above  mentioned  collaborators  and  a  half 
dozen  others  whose  names  have  not  been  given, 
shared  in  the  sales  of  the  work,  the  second  edition  of 
which  was  brought  out  by  the  late  M.  Henri  Plon, 
the  well-known  Paris  publisher.  It  sold  very  well  in 
France  and  abroad,  as  the  share  of  each  collaborator 
came  to  about  twenty  thousand  francs. 

The  great  quarto  volume,  the  first  edition,  was 
given  by  the  Emperor  to  his  friends  and  to  a  number 
of  scholars  in  Europe  and  the  world  in  general,  with 
a  few  words  written  by  himself  on  the  fly-leaf.  It 
was  an  exceptionally  fine  specimen  of  printing  and 
binding. 

The  work  attracted  considerable  attention  not 
only  in  France  but  in  all  civilized  countries,  where 
historians  and  critics  devoted  long  articles  to  it. 
Some  criticized  certain  passages  in  which  the  Em- 
peror appeared,  by  a  clever  use  of  parallels  arising 
in  the  course  of  the  events  described,  to  explain  the 
Coup  d'Etat.  M.  Duruy  wanted  all  such  sentences 
struck  out,  but  the  Emperor  refused,  saying:  "Since 
similar  events  offer  an  occasion  for  making  such 
comparisons,  I  do  not  see  why  I  should  not  take 
advantage  of  them,  especially  as  it  is  the  nephew  of 
a  second  Caesar  who  is  trying  to  write  the  life  of  the 
founder  of  the  Roman  Empire.  The  Emperor's 
theory  of  a  providentially  appointed  man,  born  to 

400 


EPISODES  IN  THE  EMPEROE'S  LIFE 

rule,  naturally  served  as  a  target  for  the  enemies  of 
the  Empire.  The  declarations  on  this  point  of  Hegel 
and  Cousin  were  evidently  forgotten,  by  these  bitter 
partisans,  as  was  also  Mommsen's  remark  that  ''cer- 
tain men  are  born  to  command  nations  as  the  wind 
commands  the  clouds." 

On  the  other  hand,  it  was  admitted  that  the  Em- 
peror did  not  exaggerate  his  hero's  qualities  as  an 
excuse  for  his  faults.  Caesar's  cruel  treatment  of 
the  gloriously  defeated  Vercingetorix  was  in  no  wise 
attenuated;  but,  at  the  same  time,  the  author  re- 
minded his  readers  that  the  conquest  of  Gaul  was 
the  first  step  in  the  civilization  of  France,  and, 
therefore,  was  of  very  great  importance  from  the 
point  of  view  of  French  nationality.  The  sequence 
of  chapters  was  generally  praised,  as  also  the  clear 
and  sober  style,  and  the  great  usefulness  of  the 
work,  geographically,  was  also  pointed  out. 

Morimee,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  was  to  some 
extent  a  collaborator  and  counselor,  devoted  two 
articles  to  the  Life  of  Ccesar  in  the  Journal  des 
Savants,  the  celebrated  official  periodical  of  French 
scholars.  Those  articles,  where  praise  was  by  no 
means  unmixed  with  criticism  of  a  rather  adverse 
kind,  satisfied  both  the  Emperor  and  the  Institute. 
Silvestro  de  Sacy,  Provost  Paradol,  and  many  other 
French  and  foreign  critics  of  weight  also  expressed 
their  opinion  of  the  work,  and  all  united  in  praising 
its  scicntfic  value,  though  some  condemned  the  the- 
ories which  it  set  forth  and  advocated. 

Two  opinions  concerning  this  work  are  especially 
worthy  of  being  considered,  as  they  come  from  de- 
termined adversaries  of  the  Empire  and  at  the  same 
time  from  clever  writers.  My  quotations  in  this  con- 

401 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

nection  have  been  revised  and  are  not  taken  from  a 
version,  which,  I  believe,  has  already  appeared  in 
print  somewhere. 

George  Sand,  notwithstanding  her  republican  con- 
victions spoke  of  the  book  in  the  following  manner, 
when  writing  to  a  friend : 

''From  a  literary  point  of  view,  the  work  is  really 
without  a  flaw,  and  that  does  not  mean  that  it  lacks 
attractiveness  or  color;  all  is  marv^elously  clear, 
sober,  vivid  and  full.  It  is  without  doubt  the  result 
of  great  labor,  but  nowhere  is  there  evidence  of 
effort  or  confusion.  Its  pages  appear  to  flow  freely 
from  the  lips  of  an  erudite  thinker  who  sums  up  the 
works  of  all  the  ancient  historians  with  such  facility 
that  one  fancies  one  can  hear  each  of  them  giving 
this  synopsis  of  his  own  book.  The  personal  appre- 
ciations are  very  brief,  but  excellently  expressed, 
and  if  the  color  is  sober,  the  design  is  all  the  firme" 
and  the  shaft  strikes  more  keenly.  To  give  a  fair 
idea  of  the  volume  it  would  be  necessary  to  quote 
several  passages,  for  no  one  has  expressed  things 
better.  A  work  so  eminently  both  by  its  erudite  tal- 
ent and  high  sentiments,  must  tend  to  raise  the  level 
of  ideas  and  to  help  the  world's  progress.  Convic- 
tion alone  produced  it,  not  the  desire  to  support  a 
theory  or  to  show  off  an  intellectual  capacity  which 
had  already  been  proven." 

This  article  caused  much  discussion  and  George 
Sand  was  called  upon  to  defend  her  position.  She 
was  one  of  the  earliest  critics  to  read  the  book  and 
adds:  "My  report  is  the  first  which  was  made,  and 
consequently  my  judgment  was  perfectly  independ- 
ent and  I  considered  that  the  book  had  great  merit. 
I  was  absolutely  sure  that  it  was  entirely,  and  with- 

402 


EPISODES  IN  THE  EMPEROR'S  LIFE 

out  any  correction,  the  work  of  him  who  signed  it. 
Therefore  my  impartial  praise  was  due  to  his  real 
talent."  This  was  a  notably  friendly  criticism  and 
the  Emperor  saw  that  his  thanks  reached  the  dis- 
tinguished writer  of  it. 

Ximenes  Doudan,  the  delicate  essayist  of  the  Or- 
leanist  group,  who  so  often  spoke  bitterly  against 
the  Empire,  confessed  on  this  occasion:  ''I  am  read- 
ing the  Life  of  Ccesar  and  I  have  felt  no  compunc- 
tious shivers  while  perusing  it.  To  be  impartial,  I 
find  there  is  a  certain  merit  in  the  book.  The  con- 
quest of  Italy  by  the  Romans  is,  perhaps,  much  too 
long  for  an  introduction,  but  the  whole  thing  is 
brought  out  with  a  certain  vigor  and  independence 
of  judgment." 

The  question  has  been  sometimes  asked  as  to  just 
how  much  of  this  histor}^  was  really  the  work  of 
Napoleon  III  himself.  The  answer  is  that  the  idea 
of  making  such  a  book  was  wholly  the  Emperor's 
and  many  of  the  pages  were  entirely  written  by  his 
hand,  while  not  one  was  left  untouched  by  his  prac- 
ticed pen.  Much  of  the  purely  historic  and  technical 
matter  was  furnished  by  the  specialists  and  scholars 
whose  names  liave  been  given  above.  They  pro- 
vided the  skeleton,  but  it  was  the  Emperor  who  put 
the  flesh  on  these  dry  bones  and  gave  life  and  color 
to  the  whole.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  Napoleon 
III,  like  Napoleon  I,  had  had  considerable  training 
in  the  art  of  composition  and  book-making  before  he 
came  to  the  throne.  He  used  to  say  sometimes:  "I 
often  feel  that  I  would  like  to  lay  down  the  scepter 
for  a  season  and  take  up  the  quill.  The  only  risk 
would  be  that  I  would  never  wish  to  go  back  to  the 

403 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPBESS  EUGENIE 

scepter  again.  ^Cacoethes  scribendi'  ought  to  have 
been  in  my  armorial  bearings." 

After  glancing  over  the  first  copy  of  the  Cccsar 
just  fresh  from  the  press,  he  turned  to  the  Empress 
and  exclaimed  with  a  smile:  ''We  have  two  children 
now,  though  you  are  the  mother  of  only  one  of  them, 
and  the  better  one,  of  course."  One  of  the  fond 
dreams  of  his  exile  was  to  find  the  time  and  health 
to  revise  this  Life  of  Cccsar,  and  the  accomplishment 
of  this  desire  was  repeatedly  pressed  upon  him  by  a 
famous  London  publisher  who  probably  saw  a  com- 
mercial profit  in  the  undertaking.  But  all  the  Em- 
peror had  in  view  was  to  render  a  good  book  still 
better. 

The  Emperor  did  all  in  his  power  to  bring  over  to 
the  Second  Empire  intellectual  France,  fully  aw^are 
of  the  important  part  played  in  a  nation  by  its 
writers,  professors,  artists  and  scientists.  This  was 
a  difficult  task  and  Napoleon  was  only  partly  suc- 
cessful in  his  bold  and  wise  effort.  The  whole  Insti- 
tute, and  chiefly  that  section  of  it  known  as  the 
French  Academy,  formed  an  almost  constant  center 
of  opposition  during  the  Second  Empire,  though 
there  were  a  few  short  periods  of  tranquillity,  when 
the  two  combatants  rested  on  their  arms. 

The  weapons  employed  by  the  members  of  the 
Institute  were  epigrams  and  more  or  less  trans- 
parent belittling  allusions  by  means  of  which  it 
was  hoped  to  undermine  the  government.  The  Or- 
leanist  and  clerical  element  was  very  powerfully 
represented  in  the  different  sections  of  the  Institute, 
and,  by  joining  force  with  the  republicans,  they 
managed  to  domineer,  and  tried  to  force  on  their 
colleagues  candidates  for  election  who  were  openly 

404 


EPISODES  IN  THE  EMPEROR'S  LIFE 

hostile  to  the  Empire.  This  is  not  the  place  to  ex- 
amine these  academic  quarrels  too  minutely,  and  I 
will  glance  only  at  the  principal  ones  which  the  gov- 
ernment took  more  especially  to  heart. 

Defeated  in  their  political  hopes  by  the  Coup 
d'Etat,  the  representatives  of  the  old  political 
parties  in  the  Institute  determined  to  take  their 
revenge.  The  first  warning  of  this  kind  which  the 
government  of  the  Prince-President  received  was 
given  even  before  "the  2nd  of  December,"  by  the 
choice  of  Montalembert  to  succeed  to  the  seat  in  the 
French  Academy  made  vacant  by  the  death  of  the 
historian  Droz.  Montalembert  had  not  refused  the 
government's  support  at  this  election.  Quite  the 
contrary;  he  came  forward  as  the  official  candidate. 
But,  nevertheless,  his  election  was  significant,  for  it 
meant,  as  the  Emperor  well  expressed  it  in  a  private 
conversation  at  that  moment,  "the  defence  of  tem- 
poral power  and  religious  liberty,"  and  it  even  gave 
rise  to  a  slight  dispute  with  the  Elysee,  the  Presi- 
dent hesitating  to  give  his  consent  that  Montalem- 
bert's  reception  discourse  at  the  Academy  be 
printed  in  the  exact  terms  in  which  he  had  delivered 
it.  Though  Prince  Louis  Napoleon  and  this  cele- 
brated liberal  did  not  always  agree  in  the  field  of 
politics,  they  often  met  in  a  friendly  way  on  other 
and  less  slippeiy  grounds. 

At  the  same  time,  there  was  another  squabble  with 
the  government  concerning  the  choice  of  the  per- 
manent secretaries  of  some  of  the  sections  of  the  In- 
stitute. The  Academy  of  Fine  Arts  dared  not  nom- 
inate M.  Vitet,  the  distinguished  art  critic,  who  was 
known  to  be  a  sworn  enemy  of  the  Empire,  but  chose 
in  his  stead  the  musician  Halevy.   This  action  leav- 

405 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

ing  a  chair  vacant,  M.  Hippolyte  Fortoul,  Minister 
of  Public  Instruction,  was  elected ;  M.  Elie  de  Beau- 
mont, Senator,  replaced  Frangois  Arago,  on  his 
death,  as  Permanent  Secretary  of  the  Academy  of 
Science,  and  Marshal  Vaillant  was  elected  an  hon- 
orary academician  in  this  same  section  of  the  Insti- 
tute. These  nominations  were  important  conces- 
sions granted  to  the  government,  though  at  the  same 
time  the  French  Academy  showed  itself  openly  hos- 
tile. Alfred  de  Musset,  the  poet,  who  replaced  Mer- 
eier-Dupaty,  the  dramatist,  could  not  be  considered 
an  enemy  of  the  regime,  but  Berryer,  the  famous 
la^vyer,  who  was  chosen  at  the  same  time,  had  fig- 
ured as  an  "irreconcilable"  ever  since  his  momen- 
tary arrest  during  the  Coup  d'Etat.  He  made  his 
opposi1;ion,  in  this  connection,  a  personal  matter. 
The  eloquent  defender  of  Prince  Louis  Napoleon 
before  the  Chamber  of  Peers  in  1840  after  the  Bou- 
logne affair,  now  the  sworn  enemy  of  the  govern- 
ment, refused  to  carry  his  reception  speech  to  the 
Tuileries,  according  to  custom,  and  wrote  to  M. 
Mocquard,  secretary  to  the  Emperor,  saying  that 
the  manner  in  which  he  had  been  treated  in  Decem- 
ber, 1851,  rendered  such  a  step  impossible.  He 
added  that  he  thought  he  had  the  "right  to  abstain 
from  a  formality  which  would  perhaps  be  painful 
not  alone  to  himself."  Berryer 's  letter  and  M.  Moc- 
quard's  reply  thereto  attracted  considerable  atten- 
tion at  the  time.  The  latter  said  among  other  things 
that  "the  Emperor  regrets  that  in  the  eyes  of  M. 
Berryer,  political  interests  outweigh  the  academi- 
cian's duties.  His  presence  at  the  Tuileries  would 
not  have  caused  the  embarrassment  he  appears  to 
fear.    His   Majesty   occupying  so   high   a  position 

406 


EPISODES  IN  THE  EMPEROR'S  LIFE 

could  have  seen  in  the  Academy's  chosen  candidate 
only  the  orator  and  author ;  the  adversary  of  to-day 
would  have  been  remembered  only  as  the  former 
defender."  But  Berryer  did  not  not  go  to  the  Tuile- 
ries  and  remained  in  his  self -chosen  isolation,  as  far 
as  the  Second  Empire  was  concerned,  to  the  end  of 
his  life. 

M.  Fortoul  reorganised  the  Academy  of  Moral 
and  Political  Sciences,  of  the  Institute,  so  that  it 
became  possible  to  introduce  into  that  section  ten 
important  men  belonging  to  the  government,  diplom- 
acy and  the  army.  By  means  of  these  nominations — ■ 
much  criticized  of  course,  by  the  opposition — the 
former  majority  in  that  section  was  changed;  in- 
stead of  being  anti-governmental,  it  was  now  friend- 
ly to  the  Empire.  This  diminutive  literary  coup 
d'etat  had  a  good  effect  on  the  official  learned  world 
and  accomplished  its  purpose.  The  French  Acad- 
emy, warned  by  this  example,  became  more  cautious 
and  its  epigrams  and  opposition  showed  a  somewhat 
less  virulent  spirit.  For  a  certain  period  new  mem- 
bers were  chosen  unanimously.  Thus,  Mgr.  Dupan- 
loup,  Bishop  of  Orleans,  Sylvestre  de  Sacy,  Legouve, 
Ponsard,  the  dramatic  poet,  and  Biot,  the  mathema- 
tician, all  entered  the  Academy  without  difficulty. 
An  attempt  was  made  to  obliterate  party  lines.  The 
Due  Victor  de  Broglie,  son-in-law  of  Mme.  de  Stael 
and  former  Minister  under  Ijouis  Philippe,  also 
entered  without  mucli  opposition.  Such,  however, 
was  not  the  case  when  Comte  de  Falloux  was 
brought  forward.  Violently  attacked  by  the  repub- 
lican press,  but  supported  by  the  Catholics,  the 
author  of  the  Education  law  of  1850  had  to  fight 
against  a  powerful  competitor,  Emilo  Augier,  then 

407 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

at  the  height  of  his  renown.  Falloux  was  victorious, 
however,  though  Augier  was  elected  some  months 
later,  defeating  Victor  de  Laprade,  who  later  suc- 
ceeded to  Musset.  The  introduction  into  the  Acad- 
emy of  these  brilliant  men  was  a  moral  defeat  for 
the  Second  Empire,  but  by  the  election  of  Jules 
Sandeau,  the  friends  of  literature  and  the  govern- 
ment were  in  their  turn  victorious. 

De  Tocqueville  's  death  gave  rise  to  vigorous  com- 
petition in  the  Academy.  An  important  candidate 
arose.  Father  Lacordaire,  the  celebrated  Catholic 
pulpit  orator,  who  was  proposed,  not  by  his  core- 
ligionists, Montalembert  and  Falloux,  but  by  Cousin 
and  Guizot.  Lacordaire,  supported  by  the  religious 
party,  but  not  opposed  by  the  government,  had,  in 
the  Academy,  the  liberals  and  free-thinkers,  es- 
pecially Merimee,  as  opponents.  His  election  was  a 
triumph  not  so  much  of  the  government  as  of  Ca- 
tholicism and  his  reception  speech  was  a  great  event 
in  the  intellectual  circles  of  the  Second  Empire. 

Until  then  the  Empress  had  taken  care  to  remain 
a  stranger  to  all  the  intrigues  and  ceremonies  of  the 
Academy.  But  she  made  it  a  point  to  be  at  the  sit- 
ting in  which  Lacordaire  was  ''received"  and  in 
which  Guizot  replied  to  Lacordaire 's  oration.  This 
act  of  hers  was  pronounced  "fine  and  courageous" 
in  the  Catholic  camp,  but  w^as  much  criticized  by 
the  imperialists  of  the  Left  who  did  not  share  her 
religious  views.  But  the  real  reason  for  Eugenie's 
presence  was  simply  that  she  wished  to  witness  an 
Academy  "reception,"  which  is  one  of  the  sights  of 
Paris.  This  was  the  first  time  the  Empress  had  ever 
sat  "under  the  cupola"  and  she  greatly  enjoyed  the 
eloquence  and  learning  of  these  two  famous  leaders 

408 


EPISODES  IN  THE  EMPEROR'S  LIFE 

of  Protestant  and  Catholic  thought.  Lacordaire,  by 
the  way,  only  went  three  or  four  times  to  the  Acad- 
emy, for  he  died  some  months  after  his  admission, 
much  to  my  regret,  for  I  always  considered  him  one 
of  the  greatest  preachers  of  the  church. 

Lacordaire 's  vacant  chair  was  filled  by  Prince 
Albert  de  Broglie — another  Orleanist  and  anti-Bon- 
apartist  victory,  which  was  followed  by  a  struggle, 
where  thirteen  ballots  were  taken  for  the  election  of 
a  member  to  succeed  Scribe.  Octave  Feuillet,  the 
novelist,  supported  by  the  Tuileries,  finally  carried 
the  day.  Then  the  Orleano-Catholics  again  tri- 
umphed with  M.  Dufaure  and  the  Comte  de  Came. 
In  1865,  Camille  Doucet,  an  ardent  Bonapartist,  de- 
feated the  poet  Autran,  who,  however,  succeeded  in 
obtaining  a  seat  in  1868.  Jules  Janin,  the  celebrated 
critic  of  the  Journal  des  D'ehats,  a  candidate  some 
years  previously,  entered  the  Academy  in  1870.  His 
opposition  to  the  Empire  was  one  of  the  causes  of 
the  delay.  Meanwhile,  were  elected,  Cuvillier- 
Fleury,  former  preceptor  of  the  Due  d'Aumale  and 
consequently  an  Orleanist,  and  Prevost-Paradol,  the 
liberal  writer  who  later  became  an  open  ally  of  the 
Empire,  and  then,  as  thougli  filled  with  remorse  at 
his  change  of  face,  took  his  life  with  his  own  hands. 
He  was  French  Minister  at  Washington  at  the 
moment  of  his  suicide,  which  was  largely  due  to  the 
out])reak  of  the  Franco-German  AVar. 

Father  Gratry  and  Jules  Favre  wore  tlie  two  anti- 
podes in  candidates  elected  during  the  last  years  of 
the  Empire.  Tlie  government  did  not  seek  to  oppose 
the  former,  who  was  a  talented  orator  and  the  candi- 
date of  tlie  Catholic  party;  but  it  was  y)ained  by  the 
coalition  set  on  foot  between  republicans  and  Cath- 

409 


MEMOIRS  OP  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

olics  in  order  to  bring  in  one  of  its  sworn  enemies^ 
Jnles  Favre,  the  pronounced  republican  orator  and 
leader  in  the  Legislative  Body.  Comte  d'Hausson- 
ville  easily  gained  the  seat  made  vacant  by  the  death 
of  Viennet.  This  was  another  Orleanist  victory  and 
did  not  give  us  any  pleasure  at  the  Tuileries  though 
the  Emperor  fully  recognized  the  talent  of  the 
father  of  the  later  member  of  the  Academy,  whose 
wife,  too,  was  a  woman  of  letters  of  considerable 
merit. 

Comte  de  Champagny,  son  of  a  minister  of  the 
First  Empire  and  consequently  a  partisan  of  Napo- 
leon III,  having  defeated,  in  the  struggle  for  Berry- 
er's  seat,  M.  Duvergier  de  Hauranne,  the  friends  of 
the  latter,  who  had  offered  their  votes  to  the  sup- 
porters of  the  government  in  the  Academy,  in  order 
to  insure  Theophile  Gautier's  success  in  obtaining 
the  third  seat  then  vacant,  determined  to  revenge 
themselves.  So  when  Empis,  the  dramatic  author, 
died  and  his  seat  was  to  be  filled,  they  supported  the 
candidature  of  Auguste  Barbier  against  Theophile 
Gautier.  Thanks  to  this  maneuver,  the  forgotten 
poet  of  lambes,  the  talented  author  of  inflamed 
strophes  dashed  into  the  very  face  of  the  founder  of 
the  reigning  dynasty.  Napoleon  I,  whose  centenary 
was  shortly  to  be  celebrated,  defeated  by  a  few  votes, 
on  the  fourth  ballot,  the  marvelous  story-teller  and 
great  writer,  Theophile  Gautier,  whose  only  crime 
was  to  be  supported  by  the  government.  The  Im- 
perial party  had  some  ground  for  showing  dis- 
pleasure at  this  last  election,  as  had  also  the  true 
friends  of  literature ;  and  the  Emperor  excused  the 
three  last-named  academicians — Jules  Favre, 
d'Haussonville  and  Barbier — from  making  the  cus- 

410 


EPISODES  IN  THE  EMPEROR'S  LIFE 

tomary  visit  to  the  head  of  the  State  which  always 
follows  an  admission  to  the  French  Academy.  "I 
don't  wish  to  force  anybody  to  do  homage  to  the 
Empire,"  Napoleon  III  said  one  day  to  me  a  propos 
of  these  elections.  ''If  these  brilliant  Frenchmen 
can't  appreciate  the  grandeur  of  the  Napoleonic 
idea,  it  is  their  loss.  Bonapartism  is  a  historic  fact 
and  academicians  who  have  not  yet  learned  this  are 
to  be  pitied.  We  move  on  and  leave  them  in  the 
wake. ' ' 

The  very  important  election  of  M.  Emile  Ollivier, 
who  succeeded  his  friend,  Lamartine,  took  place  in 
April,  1870.  This  candidature  had  been  proposed  by 
Montalembert,  who  died  before  his  candidate  was 
accepted  by  the  Academy,  and  then  events  so  quick- 
ened their  pace,  that  the  Empire  fell  before  M. 
Emile  Ollivier  could  be  officially  received  into  the 
august  company.  When,  later,  he  sought  to  defend, 
in  his  reception  speech,  the  sovereign  whose  minis- 
ter he  had  been,  he  encountered  violent  hostility  on 
the  part  of  some  of  his  colleagues.  Having  refused 
most  decidedly  to  modify  the  document  as  he  was 
asked  to  do,  M.  Ollivier  preferred  to  suppress  it 
altogether.  This  hax)pened  in  1874,  long  after  the 
fall  of  the  Empire  of  whicli  he  was  the  last  Prime 
Minister,  and  the  episode  was  an  excellent  finale  of 
the  long  and  often  bitter  conflict  between  the  Insti- 
tute, especially  the  section  which  is  the  gem  of  this 
famous  body — the  French  Academy — and  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  Empire.  In  the  person  and  talent  of 
Emile  Ollivier,  Napoleon  HI  found  a  defender 
worthy  of  the  cause.  Living  to  an  advanced  age,  M. 
Ollivier  was  able  in  brilliant  conversation  and  on  the 
lecture  x^l-^itform,  where  his  oratory  always  made  a 

411 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

deep  impression,  valiantly  to  support  this  mucli- 
abused  regime  and,  in  a  stately  history  of  the  Sec- 
ond Empire,  to  place  his  views  on  record.  If  the  bat- 
tle of  the  Institute  had  given  the  Empire  no  other 
warrior  than  Emile  Ollivier,  the  Bonapartists  should 
have  no  reason  to  complain. 

One  of  the  causes  of  the  Empress'  greatest 
anxiety  during  the  Second  Empire  was  always  the 
danger  of  some  physical  harm  happening  to  the  Em- 
peror. And  no  wonder,  for  there  were  no  less  than 
nine  conspiracies  against  his  life  between  1853  and 
1870.  The  many  attempts  to  destroy  Louis  Philippe 
were  still  fresh  in  the  public  mind  and  unquestion- 
ably suggested  a  similar  dastardly  act,  in  many 
weak  and  ill-balanced  heads,  against  the  person  of 
the  Emperor.  The  assassination  of  a  monarch  seems 
to  have  a  hypnotizing  effect  on  some  addled  brains. 
Later,  when  the  Prince  Imperial,  a  fully-grown 
child,  began  to  move  about  more  or  less  alone,  both 
the  Emperor  and  the  Empress  were  always  some- 
what nervous  lest  some  misfortune  should  befall  the 
only  direct  heir  to  the  throne.  But  even  a  mother's 
solicitude  for  an  only  son  gave  way  before  the 
greater  danger  to  which  the  Emperor  was  ever  ex- 
posed from  the  wild  act  of  some  crank  or  some 
political  murderer. 

Eugenie's  old  friend  and  most  faithful  private 
counselor  M.  Pietri,  has  drawn  up  for  me  a  list  of 
the  attempts  on  the  life  of  the  Emperor.  He  has 
accompanied  this  list  with  many  curious  facts  drawn 
from  numerous  different  sources  to  which  I  have 
added  several  known  only  to  myself.  From  this 
material,  I  have  prepared  the  following  pages,  which 
present  a  peculiar  interest.    Among  other  things, 

412 


'      EPISODES  IN  THE  EMPEEOE'S  LIFE 

they  show  that  though  attempts  are  often  made  on 
the  life  of  the  heads  of  states,  these  abominable  acts 
fortunately  seldom  succeed.  This  fact  should  give 
new  courage  to  rulers  and  should  deter  evil-doers 
from  making  these  terrible  efforts  to  destroy  worthy 
sovereigns.  This  is,  indeed,  the  chief  reason  why 
I  have  ventured  in  these  memoirs  to  touch  on  this 
rather  repelling  subject. 

The  first  of  these  attempts  on  the  Emperor's  life 
was  that  known  as  "the  hippodrome  plot."  It  was 
discovered  by  the  police  on  June  6,  1853,  and  was 
the  work  of  a  secret  society  of  workmen  associated 
later  with  a  secret  society  of  students.  Having  failed 
at  the  hippodrome,  the  same  conspirators  tried  to 
carry  out  their  scheme  at  the  Opera  Comique  on 
July  5th,  but  failed.  In  November,  eighteen  conspir- 
ators were  sentenced  to  heavy  penalties,  and  two 
months  later,  some  forty  or  fifty  more  arrests  were 
made  and  all  those  arrested  condemned.  Among 
these  was  a  young  student  of  twenty-two,  Arthur 
Eanc,  who  later  became  a  senator,  and  the  editor-in- 
chief  of  a  Paris  daily. 

That  same  year,  on  September  12th,  an  attempt 
was  made  to  blow  up  a  train  from  Calais  to  Tour- 
nay,  in  which  the  Emperor  was  to  have  traveled  on 
a  visit  to  the  King  of  the  Belgians.  Fortunately,  the 
visit  was  countermanded  at  the  last  moment.  The 
plan  was  to  place  on  the  line  a  tube  containing  some 
four  pounds  of  fulminate  of  mercury,  which  was 
connected,  by  means  of  a  carefully  hidden  wire, 
with  a  Bunsen  battery  placed  some  hundreds  of 
yards  from  the  station.  It  was  calculated  to  explode 
as  the  Emperor's  car  passed  over  it. 

Both  of  these  plots  had  been  hatched  in  France. 

413 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

But  all  those  which  followed  were  organized  outside 
of  France,  chiefly  in  England,  where  the  Italian 
societies  were  generally  the  instigators,  the  cele- 
brated Mazzini  being  the  main  inspirer  and  the  ref- 
ugees in  London  his  instruments.  This  was  an  ex- 
ceedingly dangerous  body  of  men,  for  they  pre- 
tended to  be  actuated  solely  by  political  motives,  and 
Mazzini  was  a  genius  for  conspiracy.  His  principal 
rule  was  that  if  an  effort  of  this  sort  was  to  have 
a  chance  of  success,  only  a  few  persons  should  be 
admitted  to  the  secret.  So  he  never  sent  more  than 
four  or  five  men  to  France  to  carry  out  a  plot. 

The  first  of  these  Italian  attempts  took  place  on 
April  28, 1855.  About  five  o'clock  in  the  evening,  the 
Emperor  was  riding  up  the  Champs  Elysees,  accom- 
panied by  an  aide-de-camp  and  followed  by  an 
equerry,  when  suddenly,  an  individual,  coming  from 
one  of  the  side-walks,  advanced  calmly  tow^ards  the 
Emperor  and  fired  two  shots  at  him  from  a  double- 
barreled  pistol.  The  Emperor  was  not  hit.  One  of 
the  policemen  on  duty,  named  Alessandri,  rushed 
forward,  seized  the  villain  by  the  throat  and  was 
about  to  dispatch  him,  when  the  Emperor,  who  al- 
most alone  in  the  vast  crowd  had  not  lost  his  sang- 
froid, ordered  that  his  life  be  spared.  When  the 
prisoner  was  searched,  it  was  found  that  he  had  on 
him  another  pistol  and  a  dagger.  The  Emperor, 
escorted  by  a  vast  concourse  of  people  of  all  condi- 
tions, returned  to  the  Tuileries.  The  Empress  heard 
and  saw  the  crowd  as  it  approached  the  palace,  and 
at  first,  not  knowing  what  had  happened,  feared  it 
was  a  mob  bent  on  evil.  She  hurried  to  meet  the 
Emperor  at  the  entrance  of  the  Tuileries,  and  as  they 

414 


EPISODES  m  THE  EMPEEOE'S  LIFE 

embraced,  he  said  smilingly :  ' '  This  is  a  funny  land, 
where  men  are  shot  at  like  sparrows." 

The  would-be  assassin's  name  was  Giovanni 
Pianori.  He  was  a  shoemaker  by  trade  and  had 
come  over  from  England.  He  was  condemned  to 
death  and  executed.  But  he  would  reveal  nothing, 
so  that  it  was  never  known  if  the  man  had  any 
accomplices.  All  this  terrible  mystery  that  sur- 
rounded these  awful  deeds  added  to  the  horror 
which  they  inspired  in  the  Empress,  and  there  were 
moments,  following  each  of  these  attempts  when  she 
wished  that  they  were  far  from  the  dangerous 
throne  and  living  in  private  life  in  some  secluded 
spot.  But  when  the  Empress  spoke  in  this  mood,  the 
Emperor  would  say:  ^'But  in  your  quiet  retreat,  a 
tree  might  fall  on  us  and  kill  us,  or,  if  we  remained 
in  the  city,  a  tile  might  tumble  on  our  heads !" 

Cardinal  Antonelli,  the  Pope's  secretary  of  state, 
was  on  very  good  terms  with  the  Emperor  at  this 
time,  as  was,  in  fact,  the  whole  Papal  court,  so 
thankful  they  were  for  the  care  which  France  had 
for  Roman  interests;  and  he  kept  the  court  in- 
formed concerning  the  movements  of  dangerous 
characters  both  in  Italy  and  at  London.  For  in- 
stance, the  Cardinal  warned  the  government  that 
Pianori 's  brother  was  coming  from  Italy  to  kill  the 
Emperor  and  revenge  this  brother's  death.  This 
precious  information  reached  Paris  six  hours  before 
the  arrival  of  the  would-be  assassin.  He  was,  in  con- 
sequence, arrested  at  the  railway  station  as  he  left 
the  train,  was  tried  and  sent  to  Cayenne  where  he 
died. 

The  eagerness  of  Italian  revolutionists  to  destroy 
the  Emperor  was  because  they  considered  that  his 

415 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

support  of  the  Pope  prevented  the  complete  realiza- 
tion of  Italian  unity.  The  Emperor  once  told  me 
that  he  had  learned  that  Amedee  Deleau,  the  agi- 
tator, had  said:  "Napoleon  is  decided  to  support 
the  Pope  at  any  cost,  consequently  we  must  over- 
throw him  by  every  possible  means.  Italian  or 
French,  we  have  the  same  interest  in  his  fall.  It  is 
the  justice  of  the  people  which  must  treat  this  case. ' ' 
This  theory  of  the  solidarity  of  the  Pope  and  the 
Emperor  was  not  wholly  false.  The  Empress  always 
favored  it.  The  Emperor  defended  the  Holy 
Father  to  the  utmost  limit,  and  consequently,  the 
good  understanding  with  Italy  was  of  no  practical 
value  in  1870,  because  we  retained  French  troops  in 
Rome.  As  soon  as  we  were  forced  to  withdraw  them, 
the  Papacy  fell  into  the  hands  of  its  enemies.  Na- 
poleon has  since  been  blamed  for  this,  and  looked  at 
from  a  military  and  purely  political  point  of  view, 
there  is,  I  confess,  ground  for  this  blame.  But  one 
must  not  forget  the  moral  and  religious  side  of  the 
question.  The  Emperor  and  the  Empress  were 
Christians,  Roman  Catholics,  Papists,  and  they 
could  not  stand  aside  and  see  religious  interests  sac- 
rificed for  political  interests. 

Another  plot,  organized  in  London  in  1857,  by 
Tibaldi,  Bartoletti  and  Grilli,  was  financed  and  di- 
rected by  Mazzini.  It  was  considered  that  the  most 
important  feature  of  this  conspiracy,  which  was 
fortunately  detected  before  it  could  be  executed,  was 
the  presence  in  it  of  Ledru-Rollin,  the  ultra-repub- 
lican leader,  who  had  been  banished  from  the  coun- 
try. It  showed  that  the  French  republicans  were 
now  hand  in  hand  with  the  Italian  agitators.  "I 
have  Italy  and  Paris  against  me,"  remarked  the 

416 


EPISODES  IN  THE  EMPEROR'S  LIFE 

Emperor  when  he  was  given  the  details  of  the  plot ; 
' '  but  I  have  France  with  me ;  and  that  is  enough. ' ' 

I  now  come  to  the  most  notorious  of  all  these  ter- 
rible machinations.  An  extraordinary  gala  perform- 
ance was  given  at  the  Opera  on  Thursday,  January 
14,  1858,  for  the  benefit  of  the  famous  barj^tone  Mas- 
sol.  The  program  comprised  a  fragment  of  the 
second  act  of  Wilhelm  Tell,  with  Mme.  Marie  Dussy, 
and  Messrs.  Renard,  Chin  and  Massol  in  the  principal 
parts ;  fragments  of  Maria  Stuart  by  Schiller,  with 
Mme.  Ristori  in  the  leading  role;  the  second  act  of 
La  Mueta  de  Portici;  and  finally  the  ballet  from  the 
Masked  Ball  of  Gustavus  II. 

The  Emperor  and  the  Empress  had  promised  to 
be  present  at  half  past  eight,  the  reigning  Duke  of 
Saxe-Cobourg  awaited  the  arrival  of  the  Imperial 
carriage  at  the  foot  of  the  grand  staircase.  The 
night  was  very  fine  and  the  boulevards  and  streets 
all  round  the  Opera,  which  was  then  situated  in  the 
Rue  Le  Peletier,  were  crowded.  At  the  half  hour  the 
Imperial  procession  turned  into  the  Rue  Le  Peletier 
with  a  group  of  lancers.  First  came  a  carriage  con- 
taining the  officers  on  duty,  and  then  the  landau  bear- 
ing the  Emperor,  the  Empress  and  General  Comte 
Roguet,  aide-de-camp.  The  Imperial  carriage 
slackened  its  pace  when  the  chief  entrance  to  the 
theater  was  readied,  in  order  to  enter  the  special 
passage  reserved  for  the  sovereigns  at  the  far  end 
of  the  portico.  At  that  very  moment  three  succes- 
sive explosions  were  heard.  A  bomb  had  been 
thrown  behind  the  officer's  carriage  and  in  front  of 
the  Imperial  landau,  a  second  one  had  fallen  near 
the  carriage  to  the  left  and  a  third  had  rolled  under 
the  carriage  itself. 

417 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

It  is  impossible  to  describe  the  emotion  and  alarm 
which  seized  upon  the  crowd.  The  gas  lights  illum- 
inating the  front  of  the  edifice  were  extinguished, 
the  awning  protecting  the  sovereign's  entrance  was 
torn  to  threads,  the  windows  in  the  portico  and  the 
neighboring  houses  were  shattered  to  atoms,  frag- 
ments of  glass  and  splinters  of  wood  were  mingled 
with  the  projectiles  which  fell  into  the  carriage,  the 
Emperor's  hat  was  pierced  by  a  shot,  while  the  Em- 
press' gown  was  covered  with  blood  and  it  was 
thought  at  first  that  she  had  been  wounded.  General 
Roguet  received  a  violent  blow  below  the  ear  which 
caused  an  alarming  loss  of  blood,  and  deeply  af- 
fected Eugenie  and  Napoleon.  Were  there  any  other 
bombs  ready  to  be  thrown?  was  the  question  asked 
on  every  side. 

The  police  quickly  opened  the  carriage  door  to 
allow  the  sovereigns  to  alight.  The  Empress  thought 
at  first  that  the  police  were  assassins  trying  to  mur- 
der the  Emperor  and  threw  herself  in  front  of  him  to 
protect  him  with  her  body.  But  she  immediately  saw 
her  mistake,  when  the  Emperor,  who  did  not  for  a 
moment  lose  his  presence  of  mind,  addressing  the 
police  officers  said :  ' '  How  can  we  alight  ?  You  have 
not  let  down  the  steps."  Then  it  was  that  the  Em- 
press learned  the  true  character  of  these  brave  and 
devoted  men. 

How  many  had  been  wounded  by  the  Italian  con- 
spirators' bombs?  was  another  question  on  every- 
body's lips.  This  could  not  immediately  be  ascer- 
tained. It  was  known,  however,  that  the  three  foot- 
men and  the  coachman  of  the  Imperial  carriage  were 
wounded,  that  some  lancers  in  the  escort  had  fallen 
dead,  while  others  were  grievously  hurt,  and  that  the 

418 


EPISODES  IN  THE  EMPEROR'S  LIFE 

same  fate  laad  been  shared  by  several  women  and 
children  in  the  crowd,  by  some  of  the  Paris  Guards, 
and  policemen  who  were  on  duty  at  the  theater 
entrance. 

The  panic  was  generally  outside  the  theater,  and 
inside  the  emotion  was  also  considerable.  After  the 
first  orders  had  been  given  for  assistance  to  the 
injured,  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress  advanced 
towards  the  royal  box.  Then  she  found  that  the 
suite  was  n,ot  complete,  and  that  Mme.  de  Sancy  de 
Parabere  and  another  lady  of  the  palace,  pushed  by 
the  crowd  into  the  study  occupied  by  Babin,  the 
theatrical  costumer,  got  lost  in  the  dark  corridors. 
So  for  a  few  anxious  moments  Eugenie  feared  that 
these  faithful  companions  had  met  with  harm. 

As  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress  entered  their 
box,  the  entire  audience  arose  and  cheered  and 
cheered  again  with  indescribable  enthusiasm.  They 
repeatedly  bowed  in  acknowledgment  of  this  warm 
greeting  and  then  sat  down  quietly  as  the  perform- 
ance was  about  to  begin.  It  was  Wilhelm  Tell. 
Though  throughout  these  trying  moments  Eugenie 
succeeded  in  retaining  her  presence  of  mind,  and 
tried  to  let  no  sign  appear  of  the  deep  emotion  she 
was  laboring  under,  nevertheless  she  was  exceed- 
ingly anxious  until  the  messenger  sent  in  haste  to 
the  Tuileries  returned  and  assured  the  Emperor  and 
the  Empress  that  the  Prince  Imperial  was  safe  and 
sound. 

In  the  meantime  the  entertainment  continued 
without  any  alteration  in  the  program.  Even  the 
masked  ball  ballet,  which  represents  the  murder  of 
Gustavo  II  of  Sweden,  was  given  just  as  it  stood. 
Throughout    the    performance,    the    audience    ap- 

419 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

plauded  wildly,  turning  from  time  to  time  to  the 
Imperial  box,  especially  at  the  moment  when  Mme. 
Ristori  gave  the  passage  where  Marie  Stuart,  speak- 
ing to  Mortimer,  says:  "II  braccio  del  sicariol  E 
questo  il  solo,  il  mio  vero  terrore!"  Calm  and  un- 
moved, the  Emperor  cast  at  Mme.  Ristori  a  glance 
full  of  an  expression  that  the  great  tragedienne 
never  forgot,  as  she  afterwards  told  me. 

The  Emperor  and  the  Empress  remained  until  the 
end  of  the  performance,  during  the  progress  of 
which  they  were  visited  in  their  box,  where  news  was 
brought  them  concerning  the  wounded,  by  King 
Jerome,  Prince  Napoleon,  Princess  Mathilde,  Prin- 
cess Murat,  the  marshals,  several  members  of  the 
Diplomatic  Corps  and  many  high  functionaries. 
The  sincere  sympathy  expressed  by  these  relatives 
and  friends  touched  them  both  very  much  and  made 
a  lasting  impression  upon  them.  It  was  their  first 
experience  of  this  tragic  nature,  and  the  memory  of 
it  was  never  entirely  effaced  from  Eugenie's  mind. 

The  news  of  the  outrage  reached  the  Palais  Royal 
just  at  the  moment  when,  in  the  drawing-room  of 
Prince  Napoleon,  a  proverb  by  Alfred  de  Vigny  en- 
titled :  Quitte  pour  la  peur,  was  being  played.  Th^^ 
Prince  immediately  drove  to  the  theater,  and  rushed 
to  the  Imperial  box,  as  has  just  been  said,  to  con- 
gratulate his  cousin  on  his  fortunate  escape.  Tlie 
Emperor  thanked  him  sincerely  and  added:  ''You 
had  better  return  to  your  guests ;  the  play  you  have 
chosen  bears  an  appropriate  title" — a  good  example 
of  the  Emperor's  calmness  in  moments  of  danger 
and  of  his  gifts  for  the  apropos,  which  was,  indeed, 
remarkable. 

When   the   Emperor  and  the   Empress   left  the 

420 


EPISODES  IN  THE  EMPEROR'S  LIFE 

theater,  they  found  the  boulevards  specially  illum- 
inated and  they  were  enthusiastically  cheered  as 
they  passed  through  the  crowded  streets  on  their 
way  to  the  palace  where  several  ambassadors  and 
senators  awaited  them,  another  evidence  of  the  great 
esteem  in  which  the  Emperor  was  held  by  high  and 
low  alike.  They  often  recalled  that  evening,  and 
while  they  remembered  specially  the  victims  who, 
in  the  fulfillment  of  their  duty,  or  in  search  of  pleas- 
ure, had  fallen  by  the  bombs  of  Orsini  and  his  ac- 
complices, what  made  the  most  lasting  impression 
on  their  minds,  was  the  remarkable  popular  demon- 
stration in  favor  of  the  regime  w^hich  the  Emperor 
was  endeavoring  to  place  on  solid  ground. 

At  a  much  later  period,  the  Emperor  said  one 
day:  "Orsini  did  more  to  consolidate  the  Second 
Empire,  than  a  half  dozen  Bonapartist  speeches  in 
the  Legislative  Body  or  as  many  more  of  my  ad- 
dresses from  the  throne — which  I  put  last  you  see," 
he  said  smiling. 

The  following  day,  all  Paris  learnt  that  the  con- 
spirators had  been  arrested,  that  Orsini  was  the 
chief,  while  Gomez  and  Rudio  were  his  accomplices, 
and  that  Pieri  had  been  arrested  the  day  of  the 
explosion,  for  the  police  were  aware  of  the  plot  and 
steps  had  already  been  taken  to  prevent  its  execu- 
tion. Who  can  say  whether  the  bomb  which  Pieri 
was  to  have  thrown  would  not  have  been  fatal  to 
the  Emperor?  This  question  was  asked  on  every 
hand.  Though  he  had  escaped,  Napoleon  and  Eu- 
genie were  far  from  rejoicing,  for  there  were  many 
other  victims,  as  has  just  been  said,  and  they  felt 
deep  sorrow  as  they  thought  of  these  lives  cut  short 
or  in  the  greatest  danger  by  the  bombs  which  had 

421 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

been  intended  for  them.  The  Emperor  and  the  Em- 
press drove  out  together  the  next  day,  January  15th, 
in  an  open  carriage,  passing  through  the  boulevards 
without  escort,  and  visited  at  the  hospitals  of  the 
Gros  Caillou  and  the  Val  de  Grace  the  wounded  men 
who  had  formed  part  of  the  escort  on  the  previous 
evening. 

On  January  16th  an  official  reception  was  held  at 
the  Tuileries  for  the  members  of  the  Diplomatic 
Corps,  the  Senate,  the  Legislative  Corps,  the  Coun- 
cil of  State,  and  the  Municipal  Council  of  Paris.  On 
this  occasion  speeches  were  made  by  the  presidents 
of  the  Senate  and  the  Legislative  corps,  M.  Trop- 
long  and  M.  de  Morny,  which  were  filled  with  loyal 
sentiment.  The  papers  published,  the  same  day,  the 
names  of  the  one  hundred  and  eighteen  persons  who 
had  been  wounded  or  killed,  and  described  in  detail 
the  admirable  bravery  of  the  lancers  of  the  suite, 
the  presence  of  mind  of  Quartermaster  Cuisin  and  of 
Corporal  Prudhomme.  On  the  17th  thei*e  was  a 
reception  for  the  generals,  admirals  and  all  the  other 
officers  then  present  in  Paris,  while  the  Cardinal 
Archbishop  of  Paris  presided  at  a  Te  Deum  which 
was  sung  at  Notre  Dame.  Congratulations  on  their 
fortunate  escape  now  began  to  pour  in  upon  the  Em- 
peror and  the  Empress  from  all  parts  of  Europe, 
couched  in  the  waimest  terms.  The  Prince  of  Den- 
mark, and  Princes  Charles,  Adalbert  and  Albert  of 
Prussia  came  in  person  a  little  later  to  bring  their 
felicitations.  The  Imperial  speech  delivered  at  the 
opening  of  the  legislative  session  on  the  18th  was 
most  enthusiastically  greeted,  and  while  they  con- 
tinued to  visit  the  wounded  men  in  the  hospitals, 
military  crosses  and  medals  were  distributed  by  the 

422 


EPISODES  IN  THE  EMPEROR'S  LIFE 

Emperor  among  the  police,  lancers,  and  Paris 
Guards  wlio  had  risked  their  lives  on  that  tragic 
evening. 

These  details  are  given  to  bring  out  the  fact  that 
the  sovereigns,  the  high  officials,  the  journals  and 
the  people  all  united  as  one  on  this  occasion,  a  fine 
proof  of  the  popularity  and  stability  of  the  throne 
at  this  moment. 

Meanwhile  the  news  from  abroad  was  far  from 
quieting  the  public  mind  at  home.  From  Italy  and 
England  came  information  concerning  a  vast  plot 
which  had  been  prepared  and  which  showed  that 
the  Emperor's  life  was  in  constant  and  growing 
danger.  Nothing  else  was  talked  of  at  the  ball  given 
by  the  English  ambassador  on  January  25th,  the 
day  on  which  was  celebrated  in  London  the  mar- 
riage of  Princess  Victoria  with  Prince  Frederick  of 
Prussia,  the  future  Frederick  III.  It  was  only  nat- 
ural, therefore,  that  the  Emperor  should  feel  some 
concern  over  this  state  of  things.  Not  only  was  his 
life  in  danger,  but  the  peace  of  the  country  was 
threatened.  He  was  still  further  alarmed  on  reading 
the  reports  sent  to  Count  Walewski,  the  natural  son 
of  Napoleon  I,  Foreign  Minister  at  this  moment,  by 
the  Prince  do  la  Tour  d'Auvergne,  then  French  min- 
ister at  Turin.  This  all  caused  Napoleon  to  think  of 
the  future,  to  consider  what  would  be  the  situation 
of  France  in  the  event  of  his  being  murdered.  He 
often  examined  at  this  time  the  eventuality  of  a 
Regent  and  a  child-Emperor.  He  took  necessary 
military  measures  and  divided  the  troops  in  the  in- 
terior of  the  Empire  into  five  large  military  com- 
mands which  he  entrusted  to  the  marslials  of 
France.  Letters  patent  dated  February  1, 1858,  con- 

423 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

ferred  on  the  Empress  the  title  of  Regent,  to  be 
valid  from  the  day  of  the  mounting  to  the  throne 
of  the  Prince  Imperial.  A  decree  of  the  same  date 
instituted  a  iprivj  council  composed  of  such  pillars 
of  the  Second  Empire  as  Cardinal  Morlot,  the 
Marshal  Due  de  Malakoff,  M.  Achille  Fould,  Minis- 
ter, M.  Troplong,  President  of  the  Senate,  Comte  de 
Morny,  M.  Baroche,  Minister,  and  Comte  de  Per- 
signy.  Finally,  while  the  trial  of  Orsini  and  his 
accomplices  was  under  way,  General  Espinasse  was 
called  to  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior  with  the 
title  of  Adjutant-Minister  of  Public  Safety.  This 
nomination,  made  in  terms  which  indicated  future 
repressive  measures,  caused  some  surprise.  It  was 
in  fact,  done  in  an  answer  to  an  address  from  the 
colonels  of  the  army,  who  denounced  England,  as 
"a  murderer's  refuge,  a  shelter  for  assassins,"  who 
had,  for  the  most  part,  really  come  from  Italy,  de- 
termined to  kill  the  Emperor.  Public  sentiment  even 
demanded  that  severe  measures  be  taken  against 
former  deported  and  suspected  French  subjects,  and 
some  four  hundred  persons  of  this  category  were 
arrested  and  three  hundred  were  sent  to  Algeria. 
This  somewhat  draconian  measure  produced  a  good 
effect  and  the  Law  of  Public  Safety  remained  like  a 
sword  of  Damocles  ever  threatening,  but  rarely 
striking,  turbulent  spirits  bent  on  violent  acts 
against  the  head  of  the  state.  Thus  the  senseless  act 
of  Orsini  drove  Napoleon  III,  in  spite  of  hunself,  to 
take  stem  steps  to  protect  himself,  the  throne,  and 
the  tranquillity  of  the  French  nation.  He  always  re- 
gretted having  been  forced  to  do  so,  and  the  Em- 
press wholly  shared  his  feelings  on  this  point. 
Very  serious  difficulties  had  arisen  between  Eng- 

424 


EPISODES  IN  THE  EMPEROR'S  LIFE 

land  and  France  on  account  of  the  violent  denuncia- 
tions made  by  the  colonels  just  referred  to.  It  was 
well  known  that  the  Orsini  plot  had  been  hatched  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Channel  and  much  indignation 
was  felt  regarding  the  liberty  which  was  enjoyed 
there  by  the  discontented  subjects  of  all  nations. 
The  English  ministry  considered  it  necessary  to 
introduce  a  ''Conspiracy  to  Murder"  bill  which  was, 
however,  rejected  at  the  last  moment.  Thereupon, 
Lord  Palmerston  fell  and  finally  the  new  Derby- 
Disraeli  cabinet,  in  which  Lord  Malmesbury  re- 
placed Lord  Clarendon  in  the  Foreign  Office,  made 
amicable  overtures  to  France.  Marshal  Pelissier 
was  sent  to  replace  Comte  de  Persigny  in  London  as 
French  Ambassador,  and  to  further  prove  that 
friendly  relations  subsisted  between  the  allies  of  the 
Crimean  war,  the  Queen  and  Emperor  agreed  to 
meet  at  Cherbourg  on  the  occasion  of  the  opening 
of  the  new  docks.^ 

In  the  meantime,  on  March  13th,  Orsini  and  Pieri 
were  executed.  Rudio's  sentence  was  commuted  to 
hard  labor  for  life,  while  Gomez  shared  a  similar 
fate.  The  Emperor  would  have  liked  to  grant  a 
reprieve  to  the  two  first  named,  in  which  act  of 
clemency  the  Empress  supported  him.  But  the  min- 
isters begged  him  not  to  do  so  as  this  criminal  out- 
rage had  caused  so  many  deaths.  The  trial  of  the 
conspirators  gave  rise  to  meetings  full  of  interest  in 
which  many  persons  desired  to  broach  political  mat- 
ters both  in  a  manner  favorable  and  unfavorable 
to  the  regime.  It  was  said  even  that  the  Emperor 
had  gone  to  see  Orsini  in  prison,  and  that,  "speak- 
ing as  a  former  Carbonaro,"  ho  had  promised  the 

'  An  account  of  this  meeting  is  given  in  Chaptor  VT  in  this  velum©. 

425 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

Italian  conspirators  that  he  would  labor  in  the 
future  for  the  liberation  of  Italy.  This  absurd  fact 
is  mentioned  to  show  what  wild  rumors  were  in  the 
air  at  this  moment.  Of  course,  there  was  much  fable 
and  little  truth  in  all  these  tales.  It  is  certain  that 
the  Emperor  saw  in  these  desperate  acts,  threats 
which  were  more  important  from  the  fact  that  they 
came  from  all  the  different  corners  of  Italy.  He  un- 
questionably read  in  them  a  call  back  to  the  dreams 
and  ideals  of  former  days,  to  the  vague  promises  of 
his  youth.  He  henceforth  viewed  as  a  possible 
eventuality  what  till  then  had  been  only  a  dream  and 
a  fancy.  From  now  on  a  close  alliance  with  Italy 
became  more  desirable  in  view  of  a  probable  war 
with  Austria  for  the  liberation  of  Italy. 

Well  might  we  entertain  a  feeling  of  sadness  dur- 
ing that  spring  tide  of  1858.  The  dark  political 
clouds  at  home,  the  horizon  heavy  with  warlike  prob- 
abilities, a  sudden  check  to  the  prosperity  which  had 
marked  the  two  preceding  years,  a  lack  of  confi- 
dence shown  by  government  and  nation,  general 
anxiety  regarding  not  only  the  future,  but  even  re- 
garding the  very  life  of  the  head  of  the  state;  all 
these  somber  circumstances  were  of  a  nature  to 
render  us  more  thoughtful  and  uneasy  than  ever 
before.  And  it  was  this  dreadful  act  of  Felix  Orsini, 
a  man  of  undoubted  talent  and  energy,  a  fanatic  in 
the  cause  of  Italian  independence,  which  had  sud- 
denly plunged  France,  and  Europe  in  general,  into 
this  state  of  dark  uncertainty.  So  depressing  was 
the  effect  of  all  this  on  the  mind  of  both  the  Em- 
peror and  the  Empress,  that  they  always  avoided,  in 
their  retrospective  moments,  any  thought  of  this 
unhappy  year  of  1858. 

426 


EPISODES  IN  THE  EMPEROR'S  LIFE 

After  Orsini's  bold  and  well-organized  effort,  all 
the  other  plots  which  followed  were  rather  insignifi- 
cant. On  July  3,  1864,  four  common-place  assassins 
— Greco,  Trabuco,  Scaglioni,  and  Imperatori — made 
an  attempt  on  the  life  of  the  sovereigTi,  but  without 
any  result.  They  were  all  Italians,  paid  by  Mazzini, 
and  sheltered  in  London,  Many  Bonapartists  again 
felt  that  England  was  much  to  blame  in  permitting 
Mazzini  and  his  fellow-conspirators  to  work  thus 
freely  against  the  peace  of  a  friendly  neighboring 
state  and  against  the  life  of  an  allied  and  cherished 
sovereign.  But  the  Emperor  understood  perfectly 
well  the  peculiar  character  of  the  British  constitu- 
tion and  never  entertained  any  hard  feeling  against 
England,  the  royal  family  or  the  nation.  The  Em- 
peror said  one  evening,  not  long  after  the  fear- 
ful Orsini  outrage,  when,  as  we  have  just  seen,  pub- 
lic opinion  in  France  was  very  much  excited  against 
England:  '^Emile  Ollivier  is  perfectly  justified  in 
protesting  against  the  new  Public  Safety  Bill,  and  I 
am  not  over-pleased  with  it  myself.  I  believe  the 
Interior  should  always  have  a  civil  head.  Nor  do  I 
approve  of  the  intemperate  speeches  which  it  is  now 
the  habit  of  pronouncing  against  England.  In  the 
first  place,  violent  political  acts,  like  these  attempts 
at  assassination,  never  aid  their  promoters  in  the 
long  run.  Tliey  cause  to  rally  around  us  all  the 
friends  of  order  of  all  parties.  Then  again,  I  cannot 
be  harsh  with  Phigland,  for  I  can  never  forget  how 
hospitably  I  was  treated  there  in  the  dark  days,  in 
both  official  and  private  circles.  To  me,  London  is 
always  a  second  Paris,  notwitlistanding  her  fogs  and 
rain  and  chilliness." 

The  ministry  formed  on  January  2,  1870,  by  Emile 

427 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

Ollivier,  with  the  purpose  of  evolving  the  much- 
talked  of  ''Liberal  Empire,"  was  born  in  the  midst 
of  conspiracies,  which  this  time  were  of  purely 
French  character.  The  Paris  republicans  were  pre- 
paring a  revolution  which  was  to  burst  forth  on  the 
first  good  opportunity.  It  was  no  longer  the  Em- 
peror's life  which  was  in  danger,  but  the  very  exist- 
ence of  the  regime  itself;  or  perhaps  it  would  be 
more  correct  to  say,  that  both  the  Emperor  and  the 
Empire  were  threatened.  The  Empress  felt  it  and 
saw  it  from  the  first.  The  Emperor  was  of  her  mind 
after  the  Victor  Noir  tragedy.  It  will  be  remem- 
bered that  this  turbulent  Paris  journalist  was  shot 
by  Prince  Pierre  Bonaparte  in  a  quarrel  in  which 
both  held  that  they  were  right.  The  Emperor  was 
displeased  with  this  rather  ungovernable  son  of 
Prince  Lucien  Bonaparte,  who  married  against  his 
wishes  and  had  caused  the  government  much 
trouble.  The  Emperor  would  have  preferred  to  get 
the  Prince  out  of  the  country  and  prevent  all  the 
scandal  which  followed.  But  this  was  impossible 
now  that  the  control  of  state  affairs  was  in  the  hands 
of  a  liberal  ministry.  So  the  trial,  replete  with 
scandals  of  various  kinds,  and  the  subsequent  public 
funeral  of  Victor  Noir,  lent  themselves  to  the  pur- 
poses of  the  enemies  of  the  regime,  who  were  not 
slow  to  make  use  of  these  excellent  arms.  Arrests, 
riots,  bloodshed  were  the  natural  results  of  this  un- 
fortunate state  of  effervescence,  which  lasted 
several  days.  The  Empress  fully  realized  the  dan- 
gers of  such  unrest.  Her  mind  was  continually  re- 
curring to  the  memory  of  similar  events  in  French 
history.  One  evening  when  the  Tuileries  and  the 
neighborhood  were  more  carefully  guarded   mili- 

428 


EPISODES  IN  THE  EMPEROR'S  LIFE 

tarily  than  usual,  the  Emperor  said  to  her:  ''Let  us 
go  and  see  the  soldiers";  and  they  visited  those 
parts  of  the  palace  where  they  were  put  in  easy  com- 
munication with  the  troops.  But  suddenly  the  Em- 
press recalled  the  fatal  feast  of  October  3,  1789,  and 
she  exclaimed  earnestly  to  the  Emperor:  "No,  no! 
No  bodyguard  banquet.  Let  us  return  to  the  inside 
of  the  palace  immediately, ' '  which  they  did. 


CHAPTEE  XVI 

THE  DEATH  OF  NAPOLEON  HI 

I  NOW  come  to  the  final,  inevitable,  episode  in  the 
existence  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  III — the  closing 
days  of  his  mortal  life.  As  is  well  kno^vn,  the  Em- 
peror was  ill  for  a  long  time  before  the  end  came. 
At  the  close  of  his  stay  in  AVilhelmshohe,  he  was 
beginning  to  recover  from  the  fatigue  and  strain 
caused  by  the  war.  He  bore  the  exile  in  England 
with  many  ups  and  downs  in  his  health.  The  anguish 
of  the  past  few  years,  the  long  chain  of  insults  and 
the  many  breaks  in  friendship  seriously  affected  the 
Emperor's  constitution;  for  his  heart,  so  strong 
against  physical  pain,  was,  beneath  his  apparent 
serenity,  singularly  sensitive.  If  he  harbored  but 
little  bitterness  over  the  anonjTiious  attacks  which 
had  been  showered  upon  him  and  was  the  first  to 
make  excuses  for  their  authors,  he  did  not  feel  them 
the  less.  On  the  contrary,  they  struck  deep  into  his 
very  soul  and  did  their  part  in  hastening  his  end. 
We  all  saw  this  and  we  all  sorrowed  over  it;  but 
we  could  do  almost  nothing  to  prevent  it.  Some- 
times, the  hopes  expressed  in  France  of  a  return  to 
political  favor  and  the  faithfulness  of  those  who 
surrounded  him  would  arouse  the  Emperor  for  a 
short  season.  But  probably  the  most  comfort  to  the 
wounded  spirit  came  from  the  excellent  work  of  the 
Prince  Imperial  at  the  Woolwich  military  school. 

430 


THE  DEATH  OF  NAPOLEON  III 

He  was  naturally  wrapped  up  in  his  only  son  and 
this  boy's  good  conduct  was  balm  to  [his  ailing 
father. 

But  there  was  still  another  element  that  tended  to 
undermine  the  health  of  the  Emperor.  I  refer  to  the 
climate  of  England.  No  climate  could  have  been 
worse  for  an  ailing  patient  in  his  state.  His  tem- 
perament could  not  fight  against  it,  but  his  will  was 
so  strong  that  he  almost  succeeded  in  hiding  the 
fact  from  those  about  him.  But  he  could  not  hide  it 
from  the  Empress.  She  saw  the  real  situation  but 
could  do  nothing  to  alleviate  it.  She  simply  suf- 
fered at  his  suffering. 

Camden  Place  House  was  a  general  meeting  place 
for  all  the  exiled  courtiers,  and  though  these  old 
faces  did  much  to  keep  up  the  general  cheerfulness, 
their  presence  was  a  continual  strain  on  Napoleon. 
Former  aides-de-camp  and  ladies  in  waiting  were 
always  in  attendance,  and  the  little  group  was  often 
reenforced  by  friends  or  faithful  visitors  of  the  old 
Tuileries  group.  All  these  w^ien  they  left  Chisle- 
hurst  went  away  delighted  with  the  Emperor's  wel- 
come and  in  high  spirits  over  the  ''excellent  health 
of  his  Majesty."  AVhen,  on  their  return  to  France, 
they  were  questioned  concerning  his  physical  condi- 
tion, which  they  felt  was  the  pivot  on  which  turned 
the  whole  political  situation,  they  w^ould  say,  very 
honestly,  as  they  thought:  "Why,  he  is  perfectly 
well  and  strong!"  Others  would  add:  "We  never 
saw  him  so  courageous  and  cheerful ;  he  really  seems 
to  have  grown  younger." 

This  special  interest  in  the  state  of  the  Emperor 
was  largely  due  to  the  fact  that  at  this  moment  an 
Imperial  restoration  was  much  thought  of  and  a 

431 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

whole  plan  had  been  formed,  with  the  support  of 
several  corps  commanders,  to  put  the  Emperor  on 
the  throne  again.  There  is  no  hesitation  on  my  part 
to  state  this  fact  at  this  late  day,  for  the  reasons, 
in  the  first  place,  that  the  republicans  of  that  mo- 
ment made  this  public,  and,  in  the  second  place, 
because  the  Empress  was  privately  opposed  to  the 
plan.  She  felt  that  the  Emperor  was  too  feeble  to 
stand  this  new  strain  and  the  Prince  Imperial  too 
young  to  take  the  lead  in  the  proposed  restoration. 
Nor  was  she  convinced  from  what  she  heard  from 
France  that  there  was  wisdom  in  the  proposal,  and  I 
think  the  events  that  happened  in  the  immediately 
following  years  showed  that  her  view,  which  was 
shared  by  not  a  few  friends  of  the  regime,  was  the 
right  one.  Furthermore,  the  Emperor  himself,  who 
had  had  wide  experience  in  political  matters,  was 
not  so  enthusiastic  about  the  *'plot,"  as  the  repub- 
licans called  it,  as  were  the  young  Bonapartists  who 
had  planned  the  affair. 

At  the  end  of  November,  1872,  the  deadly  form 
of  the  Emperor's  disease  became  more  evident  to 
the  Empress.  At  first,  he  was  obliged  to  give  up 
driving  and  then  even  walking.  A  decision  had  to 
be  arrived  at.  The  medical  men.  Dr.  Corvisart  and 
Dr.  Conneau,  both  advised  an  operation,  which  they 
considered  absolutely  necessary.  But  other  phy- 
sicians held  that  it  was  not  yet  obligator^^  The  Em- 
press was  appealed  to,  but  hesitated  giving  an  opin- 
ion as  she  perceived  the  danger  of  both  proposals. 
When  Prince  Napoleon  visited  the  Emperor  at  the 
beginning  of  December,  he  urged  him  to  yield  to 
the  advice  of  the  first  set  of  doctors.  In  order  to 
get  him  to  consent,  he  said  to  him  one  day:    "It  is 

432 


THE  DEATH  OF  NAPOLEON  III 

only  in  this  way  that  you  will  obtain  complete  com- 
mand of  yourself."  The  Emperor  answered,  in  his 
characteristic  way:  "Oh,  my  health  will  never 
stand  in  the  way  of  my  accomplishing  all  my  politi- 
cal duties.  It  was  so  in  1870,  and  it  will  be  so  again, 
if  circumstances  make  such  a  sacrifice  necessary." 
This  was  brave  and  just  like  him.  But  he  decided 
to  make  an  experiment  himself.  So  he  gave  orders 
for  a  drive,  and  the  following  day,  about  two  o  'clock, 
a  footman  announced  that  the  Emperor's  carriage 
was  at  the  door.  The  announcement  caused  great 
surprise  and  every  one  but  the  Empress  thought 
there  must  be  some  mistake.  It  was  a  long  time 
since  he  had  taken  a  drive,  and  for  several  days  he 
had  not  left  the  house.  "I  am  going  over  to  Wool- 
wich to  see  the  Prince,"  he  said  quietly  as  he  went 
down  stairs  to  get  into  the  carriage.  Eugenie  was 
very  anxious  and  the  intimate  circle  all  naturally 
shared  her  anxiety.  We  all  felt  how  dangerous  that 
drive  might  be. 

The  Emperor  was  accompanied  by  Prince  Napo- 
leon. They  reached  Woolwich  safely,  saw  the 
Prince  Imperial  for  a  short  time,  walked  with  him, 
and  then  drove  back  to  Chislehurst.  On  his  return, 
the  doctors  questioned  Prince  Napoleon  very  close- 
ly. He  told  them  that  the  Emperor  had  not  com- 
plained during  the  drive  and  that  if  his  suffering 
had  been  increased,  his  face  had  given  no  signs  of 
it.  As  soon  as  the  Empress  was  alone  with  him, 
she  asked  anxiously  how  he  had  really  borne  the 
trial.  In  his  habitually  courageous  manner,  he  an- 
swered simply:  *'I  suffered  a  little."  But,  two 
days  afterwards,  a  violent  fever  set  in,  which  de- 
cided the  doctors  to  make  an  examination.    Dr.  Gull 

433 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

suggested  that  this  be  done  by  the  eminent  surgeon, 
Sir  Henry  Thompson,  who  came  to  Camden  Place 
and  examined  tlie  Emperor.  The  result  of  his  visit 
was  to  confirm  the  diagnosis  of  Drs.  See,  Conneau 
and  Corvisart.  There  could  no  longer  be  a  doubt 
that  the  Emperor  was  suffering  from  stone.  It  was 
then  decided  that  he  should  bo  operated  upon  at 
the  beginning  of  January.  We  were  all  anxious  but 
optunistic,  for  Dr.  Thompson  was  known  for  the 
successful  way  in  which  he  performed  this  delicate 
and  dangerous  operation.  The  Prince  Imperial 
shared  this  confidence,  and  when  he  wrote  to  the 
Pope,  his  godfather,  and  sent  the  customary  New 
Year's  greeting,  he  confided  to  the  Holy  Father  his 
optimism,  and  asked  for  a  blessing  for  the  patient. 
The  letter  was  delayed  in  some  way  and  reached 
Rome  on  the  veij  day  w^hen  the  telegram  arrived 
informing  the  Holy  Father  of  the  Emperor's  death. 
On  January  2nd,  Sir  Henry  installed  himself,  with 
his  aids,  Messrs.  Forster  and  Glover,  one  of  whom 
was  to  administer  the  chloroform,  at  Camden  Place. 
Drs.  Gull,  Corvisart  and  Conneau,  were  of  course 
present  at  this  the  first  operation,  which  was  fairly 
successful.  The  Emperor's  suffering  was  much 
diminished;  but  the  result  was  very  slight,  for  the 
stone  was  hardly  touched.  On  Monday,  the  6th,  a 
second  operation  was  performed.  It  was  more  pain- 
ful than  the  first  one,  and  the  Emperor  felt  the  pain 
afterwards  very  violently.  Local  troubles  set  in 
which  caused  much  anxiety.  After  consultation,  it 
was  decided  that  if  the  third  lithotriptic  operation 
was  not  successful,  they  w^ould  have  to  resort  to 
heroic  remedies.  The  poor  patient  said  nothing. 
After  this  second  operation,  the  changed  state  of 

434 


THE  DEATH  OF  NAPOLEON  IH 

his  body  and  mind  was  revealed  only  by  his  pulse, 
his  temperature  and  the  expression  of  his  face.  He 
hardly  came  out  of  the  heavy  sleep  mixed  with  de- 
lirium into  which  he  was  plunged  by  his  disease,  and 
probably  by  the  chloroform.  On  Tuesday,  when  the 
Empress  was  near  his  bed,  he  murmured:  "Where 
is  Louis?"  She  answered:  "He  has  gone  back  to 
Woolwich ;  do  you  want  him  ? "  ' '  No,  no,  he  is  work- 
ing and  I  do  not  want  him  disturbed."  The  follow- 
ing day,  Dr.  Conneau,  who  had  just  returned  from 
London  where  he  had  been  to  see  his  daughter,  who 
was  ill,  entered  the  room.  The  Emperor  said  to 
him:  "Ah,  is  that  you,  Conneau?  You  were  at 
Sedan,  were  you  not?"  Thinking  that  His  Majesty 
had  made  a  mistake,  he  answered:  "Yes,  Sire,  I 
have  been  to  London."  "I  did  not  ask  whether  you 
were  in  London.  I  asked  if  you  were  at  Sedan." 
"Yes,  Sire,  I  was  there."  "Ah!"  and  he  closed 
his  eyes. 

"Louis!  Sedan!"  those  were  the  last  intelligible 
words  pronounced  by  Napoleon.  The  first  was  a 
farewell  to  the  beloved  son  whose  presence  always 
brought  a  smile  to  his  lips  even  in  the  midst  of  the 
most  cruel  suffering  of  these  final  days  of  life.  The 
second  word  was  a  reminder  of  the  moral  and  physi- 
cal calvary  which  had  tortured  him  during  those 
dreadful  days  of  the  summer  of  1870  which  had  con- 
tinued to  torture  him  each  day  and  even  every  min- 
ute since.  This  was  the  disease  which  sapped  his 
forces  slowly  but  surely  while  the  doctors  were  seek- 
ing for  physical  causes.  These  were  really  Lis  last 
words,  tliough  he  did  open  his  moutli  several  times 
thereafter,  but  only  to  respond  in  monosyllables 
to  the  questions  put  by  the  doctors  or  by  the  Em- 

435 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

press.  He  gave  the  latter  feeble  smiles,  having  no 
strength  left  mth  which  to  speak. 

On  the  evening  of  the  8th,  his  condition  seemed 
to  have  improved.  The  night  was  calm  and  his  suf- 
fering had  greatly  decreased.  The  9th  was  com- 
mencing and  appeared  promising.  Sir  Henry  was 
encouraged  and  informed  Comte  Clary  that  the  third 
operation  would  now"  take  place,  and  that  it  would 
be  necessary  to  use  the  knife.  Everybody  hoped 
for  the  best.  The  Prince  Imperial  had  asked  to  be 
allowed  to  come.  But  it  was  thought  best  for  him  to 
wait  till  after  the  operation.  Comte  Clary  was  pre- 
paring to  start  for  Woolwich  in  order  to  cany  him 
the  more  favorable  news  and  to  inform  him  of  the 
comforting  words  he  had  heard  from  the  doctors. 
At  about  ten  o'clock  he  came  to  see  if  the  Empress 
had  any  message  to  send,  and  she  asked  him  to 
wait  while  she  got  ready  to  go,  too.  As  the 
Emperor  appeared  to  be  better  and  she  had  not  been 
out  for  a  month,  the  Empress  concluded  to  take  a 
little  airing  and  see  her  son.  On  the  way  to  take 
the  carriage,  she  met  Dr.  Corvisart,  who  said  to  her 
quietly:  "Your  Majesty  had  better  not  go  out." 
"But  what  has  happened  I"  "A  new  attack  has 
come,  and  it  would  be  better  that  Your  Majesty  re- 
main at  the  house."  Then,  turning  to  Comte  Clary, 
he  said  quickly:  "Hasten  and  bring  the  Prince"; 
and  to  Mme.  Lebreton:  "Call  Father  Goddard." 
This  was  the  Chislehurst  priest  who  often  came  to 
Camden  Place  and  w^ith  whom  the  Emperor  liked  to 
chat,  and  to  whom  he  had  said  shortly  before,  as 
they  were  walking  in  the  cemeter}":  "I'm  looking 
for  the  spot  where  you  can  put  me." 

Thereupon  the  Empress  entered  the  room.     The 

436 


THE  DEATH  OF  NAPOLEON  m 

doctors  stood  round  the  bed  observing  the  altered 
features,  the  whitening  lips  and  marking  the  slack- 
ening pulse.  ''Sire,"  said  one  of  them,  ''the  Em- 
press has  come  to  see  how  Your  Majesty  is."  At 
this,  the  Emperor  turned  and  sought  her  out  with 
his  eyes.  She  drew  near  and  kissed  his  forehead. 
He  turned  his  head  a  little  and  put  out  his  lips  to 
kiss  her,  but  had  hardly  the  strength  to  do  so.  Dr. 
Thompson  gave  him  a  few  drops  of  cordial,  but  Eu- 
genie's remark  that  "Louis  is  coming,  dear"  had  a 
greater  reviving  effect  than  the  cordial.  Everybody 
noticed  how  that  name  moved  him.  A  slight  smile 
and  an  expression  of  joy  immediately  spread  over 
his  white  face.  At  this  moment.  Father  Goddard 
entered  the  room,  and  administered  extreme  unc- 
tion. The  Empress  noticed  the  hard  breathing,  but 
did  not  imagine  that  the  end  was  so  near.  Father 
Goddard  gently  drew  her  away.  She  thought  that 
be  wished  to  remain  alone  with  the  Emperor.  The 
doctors  evidently  perceived  that  the  Empress  did 
not  realize  the  real  situation,  so  they  told  her  that 
the  Emperor  was  dying.  She  then  returned  to  the 
bod,  everybody  fell  on  their  knees,  and  the  Emperor 
Napoleon  passed  quietly  away. 

In  the  meanwhile,  Comte  Clary  had  reached  Wool- 
wich, where  he  found  the  Prince,  gun  on  shoulder, 
starting  for  his  militaiy  exercise.  They  hastened 
back,  and  got  to  Camden  Place  a  little  after  midday. 
As  they  entered  the  house,  Comte  Davillier  said  to 
the  Prince:  "Be  brave.  Prince;  the  Emperor  is 
very  ill."  The  Prince  saw  Father  Goddard  coming 
towards  him  weeping,  and  then  understood  what  had 
happened.  He  hurried  up  the  stairs  and  met  the 
Empress  just  coming  from  the  death  chamber.    She 

437 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPEESS  EUGENIE 

embraced  her  poor  boy,  and  lie  then  passed  on  into 
the  room.  He  had  hoped  up  to  the  very  last  mo- 
ment to  find  his  father  alive.  But  he  now  found 
himself  confronted  with  a  corpse.  The  Emperor 
seemed  to  be  sleeping,  and  his  face  wore  a  most 
calm  appearance.  The  Prince  fell  on  his  knees  and 
prayed.  Then  he  rose,  seized  the  Emperor's  head 
in  his  two  hands  and  kissed  him  tenderly.  The  Em- 
press again  drew  him  to  her,  and  others  tried  to 
have  the  Prince  leave  the  room.  But  he  refused  for 
a  long  time.  He  seemed  stupefied  and  unable  to  give 
way  to  the  emotions  which  were  swelling  up  in  his 
bosom.  He  finally  retired,  asked  quietly  how  the 
last  moments  were  passed,  and  at  length,  giving 
way  to  his  deep  sorrow,  wept  bitterly  and  freely. 

The  news  of  the  Emperor's  death  caused  much 
sorrow  in  England  and  in  France.  Several  of  the 
London  papers  apjoeared  in  black.  The  Emperor 
was  popular  in  England,  and,  though  in  exile,  it  was 
felt  that  he  exercised  much  influence  on  public  af- 
fairs. Many  statesmen  at  that  time  considered  that 
he  or  his  son  was  destined  to  play  an  important 
part  in  the  world's  politics.  The  Queen  was  kind 
enough  to  send  her  chamberlain.  Lord  Sydney,  and 
the  Duke  of  Cambridge  arrived  shortly  afterwards. 
The  good  Queen  who,  up  to  the  day  of  her  death, 
always  treated  Eugenie  with  the  greatest  kindness 
also  sent  to  her  and  to  the  Prince  Imperial  tender 
letters  and  telegrams.  Telegrams  reached  them  in 
great  numbers  from  other  crowned  heads,  public 
men  in  all  countries  and  from  our  old  and  dear 
friends  in  France.  I  was  told  a  few  days  later  that 
more  than  two  score  newspapers  of  Paris  and  the 
departments  came  out  in  mourning.     The  warmth 

438 


THE  DEATH  OF  NAPOLEON  III 

of  feeling  expressed  by  all  classes  at  Chisleburst 
touched  the  Empress  deeply.  The  Prince  Imperial 
was  so  overcome  by  the  blow  that  she  induced  him 
to  withdraw  from  the  big  house,  where  there  was 
such  a  come  and  go,  to  a  smaller  one  occupied  by 
Comte  Clary  in  a  corner  of  the  park.  The  next  day, 
the  then  Prince  of  Wales  came.  He  would  not  in- 
trude upon  Eugenie's  grief,  but  he  was  received 
by  the  Prince  Imperial,  to  whom  he  said  with  much 
feeling  and  gentleness  as  he  kissed  him:  ''I  pity 
you,  for  I  know  by  experience  what  you  must  suf- 
fer." 

The  Prince  Imperial  was  so  tender  throughout 
this  sad  experience.  I  recall  some  one  of  the  house- 
hold coming  to  ask  the  Empress  about  some  of  the 
details  of  the  funeral.  Turning  to  her  son  who  was 
with  her  at  the  moment,  she  said  to  him :  ' '  Speak, 
Louis;  you  are  the  one  to  decide  things  now."  His 
only  reply  was  kneeling  down,  kissing  her  hands, 
which  were  bathed  with  his  tears.  There  were  many 
other  touching  acts  and  scenes  during  these  painful 
hours.  Among  the  Frenchmen  who  arrived  direct 
from  France  was  Eugene  Delessert,  who  brought 
with  him  a  case  full  of  earth  taken  from  the  private 
garden  of  the  Tuileries  on  which  was  laid  the  coffin. 
The  Emperor  was  placed  in  his  coffin  wearing  his 
wedding  ring  and  the  ring  which  was  on  the  finger 
of  Napoleon  I,  when  he  died  at  Saint  Helena.  It 
was  proposed  to  take  off  and  hand  to  the  Prince  Im- 
perial this  family  relic.  But  he  refused  to  permit 
this. 

The  body  was  exposed  on  January  14th,  in  the 
large  hall  of  the  liouse.  AVlien  Marshal  Leboeuf  ar- 
rived before  it,  he  fell  on  his  knees  before  the  bier, 

439 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

exclaiming:  "My  poor  Emperor!  My  poor  Em- 
peror!" Then  he  slowly  walked  around  the  room 
and  twice  kissed  the  hands  he  had  not  sliaken  since 
Metz.  Those  who  witnessed  this  scene  told  me  that 
it  was  most  heart-rending.  All  understood  the  an- 
guish and  pain  of  that  unfortunate  man  and  true 
soldier,  who  seemed  to  ask  forgiveness  for  his  short- 
comings, and  who  was  finally  led  away  by  a  friend. 
The  night  preceding  the  funeral  thei  Empress 
spent  in  prayer  at  the  coffin  side.  A  ray  of  sun 
burst  through  the  heavy  clouds  at  the  very  moment 
when  the  funeral  left  the  house.  Later,  M.  Frances- 
chini  Pietri  informed  her  that  in  the  procession  were 
two  marshals,  an  admiral,  fifteen  generals,  six  vice- 
admirals  and  rear-admirals,  fourteen  deputies, 
twenty-seven  former  ministers,  twenty-five  former 
prefects.  On  Sunday,  the  19th,  Father  Goddard 
preached  an  excellent  sermon  on  the  dead  Emperor. 
I  have  read  and  re-read  it  many  times  since.  He 
dwelt  on  the  religious  feelings  of  the  Emperor, 
which  were  indeed  very  deep.  Speaking  of  the  Em- 
peror's kindliness  to  the  poor,  he  told  this  anecdote 
which  I  have  myself  heard  from  the  Emperor's  own 
lips.  A  child,  he  returned  home  one  day  without  his 
shoes,  and  when  Queen  Hortense  asked  him  what 
he  had  done  with  them,  he  answered:  "Mother,  I 
met  a  poor  boy  who  had  no  shoes,  so  I  gave  him 
mine."  The  child  in  this  case  was  indeed  father 
to  the  man,  for  no  soul  was  ever  more  noble  and 
more  generous  than  that  of  the  Emperor.  There 
was  in  him  a  generosity,  a  greatness  of  heart,  a 
touching  kindliness  which  was  felt  by  everybody 
who  came  into  his  presence.  I  have  heard  this  said 
over  and  over  again  by  friend  and  stranger.     His 

440 


THE  DEATH  OF  NAPOLEON  III 

attachment  to  his  friends,  his  gratitude  for  the 
slightest  attention — noble  and  rare  virtues — would 
suffice  alone  to  single  him  out  as  a  king  among  men. 
But  there  was  another  trait  in  his  character  which 
was  still  greater.  He  was  capable  of  the  most  mag- 
nanimous forgiveness  for  offenses.  Those  who  lived 
outside  of  his  immediate  circle  have  no  idea  how 
highly  developed  this  grand  quality  was  in  him. 
Often  he  had  an  opportunity  of  taking  revenge,  but 
he  never  once  took  advantage  of  it,  even  when  it 
would  have  advanced  his  political  views  and  inter- 
ests. 

Father  Goddard  told  me  a  few  days  later  that 
after  the  burial  service,  a  marshal  who  had  fought 
and  commanded  at  Sebastopol  came  to  him  in  the 
sacristy  and  said  with  tears  in  his  eyes:  *'I  thank 
you  for  having  come  to  join  your  grief  and  respect 
to  ours  in  the  presence  of  this  tomb.  He  whom  we 
are  mourning  deserved  this  homage,  for  he  had  a 
noble  heart."  Since  then,  I  have  heard  similar  testi- 
mony from  many  other  men  of  mark,  and  I  perceive 
that  I  am  not  alone  in  saying  that  the  Emperor  Na- 
poleon III  had  one  of  the  sweetest  characters  I  have 
ever  known. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

RECOLLECTION    AND   EETEOSPECTION 

During  the  Empire  the  Empress  acted  as  regent 
on  several  occasions.  What  she  did  at  these  times 
has,  in  some  instances,  been  criticized  severely  in 
certain  quarters.  Even  what  she  thought  or  was 
supposed  to  think  has  not  always  escaped  censure. 
But  neither  at  the  time  nor  since  did  Eugenie  pay 
much  attention  to  these  carpings,  which  were  gen- 
erally based  on  no  very  solid  facts.  Nor  did  she 
accept  willingly  the  praises  which  were  not  infre- 
quently bestowed  upon  her  for  her  acts  during  these 
same  regencies.  She  was  always  ready  to  wait  pa- 
tiently till  the  future  historian,  with  all  the  docu- 
ments in  hand,  shall  pass  final  judgment  on  the  pub- 
lic characters  of  the  Second  Empire. 

But,  concerning  many  things  that  the  Empress 
did  during  these  regencies,  even  the  most  malevolent 
detractors  of  the  reign  were  forced  to  hold  their 
peace.  A  good  example  of  this  was  afforded  during 
the  regency  of  the  year  18G5  when  Napoleon  III 
undertook  a  journey  to  Algeria  during  which  she 
occupied  the  position  of  ruler. 

The  treatment  of  youthful  prisoners  was  a  subject 
which  has  always  greatly  interested  the  Empress 
and  she  studied  it  attentively  during  this  regency. 
All  who  have  any  knowledge  of  administrative  red- 
tapism  and  routine,  especially  in  France,  can  realize 

442 


RECOLLECTION  AND  RETEOSPECTION 

what  she  had  to  fight  against  in  order  to  introduce 
alterations  or  improvements  of  any  kind  in  the 
prison  system.  Eugenie  fully  realized  the  difficulty 
of  the  task,  and  as  the  best  means  of  gaining  accu- 
rate and  precise  knowledge  of  the  existing  state  of 
affairs,  she  determined  to  conduct  all  the  investiga- 
tions in  person,  and  carefully  visit  all  the  establish- 
ments where  ameliorations  were  needed. 

At  that  time,  youthful  delinquents  were  usually 
shut  up  in  La  Petite  Roquette,  and  this  prison  was 
the  first  which  the  Empress  visited  on  her  '^  errand 
of  mercy,"  as  the  Emperor  termed  it,  writing  from 
Algiers.  After  a  preliminary  hasty  examination, 
she  was  pained  to  find  that  the  condition  of  things 
there  was  worse  even  than  she  had  imagined  it  to 
be.  The  children,  many  of  whom,  though  no  doubt 
guilty  and  even  vicious,  were  mostly  victims  of  neg- 
lect and  ill-treatment,  and  were  yet  subjected  to 
moral  torture  of  a  kind  which  had  long  been  abol- 
ished in  all  the  prisons  where  adults  were  shut  up. 
The  natural  result  was  that  these  young  persons 
became  hardened  and  perverse  in  many  cases  where 
gentle  treatment  and  kind  care  would  have  worked 
wonders. 

The  Empress  found  that  the  children  were  con- 
demned to  a  life  of  complete  isolation.  For  these 
young  beings,  full  of  life  and  spirits,  the  days  were 
terribly  long  and  each  was  a  perfect  replica  of  the 
day  which  had  preceded  it,  a  perfect  foreshadowing 
of  the  day  which  would  follow  it.  Their  time  was 
spent  in  a  lonely  cell,  bonding  over  an  unchanging 
task,  in  absolute  and  unbroken  silence.  No  relief 
came  when  the  poor  soul  was  turned  into  the  prison- 
yard  for  a  short  walk.     Perhaps  on  the  first  occa- 

443 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPEESS  EUGENIE 

sion,  his  heart  beat  eagerly  as  he  passed  through 
the  grated  door,  thinking  no  doubt  that  he  would 
find  some  comrades  outside,  and  that  even  if  speak- 
ing were  prohibited,  there  would  be  something  dif- 
ferent to  look  at.  But,  alas!  the  poor  child's  walk 
was  taken  in  a  passage-way  twenty-five  yards  long 
surrounded  by  high  blank  walls,  and  the  daily  so- 
called  recreation  became  a  sort  of  torture  against 
which  his  young  soul  revolted.  The  very  chapel 
had  been  turned  into  a  place  of  punishment;  for 
one  above  the  other,  rose  tiers  of  little  boxes  from 
which  the  occupants  could  see  the  altar,  but  where 
they  were  unable  even  to  catch  sight  of  any  of  their 
companions  in  misery. 

The  Empress  had  brought  before  her  some  of 
these  wretched  young  beings.  She  questioned  them 
one  by  one,  inquired  into  their  former  life,  the  cause 
of  their  imprisonment,  and  asked  especially  about 
their  present  condition.  For  some,  she  was  soon 
convinced  there  was  no  remedy.  Soiled  imagina- 
tions, perverted  minds,  such  appeared  ready  for 
any  crime.  When  catechized,  these  immediately 
launched  into  long  explanations  of  their  deeds  and 
actions,  inventing  with  marvelous  facility  tales  by 
which  they  hoped  to  deceive  their  listeners  and  win 
compassion.  The  Empress  was  led  to  the  reluctant 
conclusion  that  such  children  were  beyond  help; 
they  were  sunk  too  deep  in  the  mire.  She  found 
that  there  were  others,  however,  who  had  never 
known  a  kind  word  or  loving  caress.  They  slept 
under  the  bridges  of  the  Seine  because  they  had  been 
abandoned.  They  had  no  other  home,  and  sought 
the  only  shelter  they  knew  of.  Some  night,  the 
police  would  find  them  out,  and,  being  homeless,  they 

444 


RECOLLECTION  AND  RETROSPECTION 

would  be  brought  to  La  Petite  Roquette.  Was  it 
right,  Eugenie  asked  herself,  that  such  victims  of 
fate  deliberately  should  be  turned  into  culprits'  cells 
to  become  by  continement  and  harsh  treatment  hard- 
ened and  desperate  criminals'?  She  answered  the 
self-imposed  question  by  a  vigorous  ''No." 

Eugenie  discovered  that  other  children  had  been 
imprisoned  at  their  own  parents'  request,  by  par- 
ents who  beat  them  and  goaded  them  till  they  be- 
came little  better  than  savages.  One  case  particu- 
larly interested  her — that  of  a  young  boy  who  had 
one  day  stolen  some  trivial  object  as  he  passed 
through  a  street.  He  was  a  policeman's  son,  and 
the  father,  ashamed  of  the  boy's  evil  deed,  insisted 
on  his  being  rigorously  punished  and  had  requested 
that  he  be  imprisoned  for  a  year.  The  lad  had  been 
Imrdened  by  the  treatment  and  swore  that  as  soon 
as  he  was  free  he  would  kill  his  father.  Every  effort 
had  been  made  to  shake  his  determination,  but  he 
remained  obdurate.  ''I  will  kill  my  father  when  I 
leave  here,"  he  repeated  over  and  over  again. 

The  Empress  inquired  into  this  boy's  past.  In 
very  simple  language,  he  told  the  whole  story  and 
bursting  into  tears  exclaimed:  "My  father  had  no 
right  to  punish  me  so  severely  for  such  a  little  thing. 
It  is  unjust  and  I  will  kill  him  for  it. ' '  Eugenie  drew 
the  young  prisoner  nearer  to  her  and  spoke  gently 
to  liim.  In  kindly  tones  she  dwelt  on  the  duty 
of  parents,  and  how  such  duties  become  sterner  and 
more  imperative  according  to  the  position  hold  by 
the  parent.  "Your  father  was  a  policeman,"  she 
said  to  the  trembling  lad,  "whose  duty  it  was  to 
repress  evil  in  others,  and  he  had  consequently  felt 
it  more  incnmbeut  on  him  to  punish  his  son's  mis- 

445 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

deeds  very  severely,  though  no  doubt  it  caused  him 
much  pain  to  do  so."  The  child  listened,  and  as  her 
words  fell  on  his  ears,  his  hard  little  heart  grew 
softer  and  softer  till  at  length  he  gave  way  and 
sobbing,  fell  at  her  feet  and  promised  to  abandon 
his  terrible  determination.  Eugenie  then  promised 
to  send  some  one  to  intercede  with  his  father  so  that 
the  term  of  imprisonment  might  be  shortened.  She 
did  so,  and  shortly  afterwards  the  child  was  re- 
leased. She  saw  that  he  was  apprenticed  and  care- 
fully watched  during  several  years.  In  the  end,  the 
lad  gave  entire  satisfaction  to  his  employers,  thus 
justifying  the  interest  which  she  had  inspired. 

After  this  visit  to  La  Petite  Roquette,  the  Em- 
press appointed  a  committee  to  inquire  into  the  pos- 
sibility of  converting  the  iniquitous  cellular  system 
of  imprisonment  into  that  known  in  France  as  '' agri- 
cultural penitentiaries."  The  meetings  of  this  com- 
mittee were  held  at  the  Tuileries  and  among  its  more 
prominent  members  was  M.  Emile  Ollivier,  who  had 
but  lately  come  over  to  the  Empire  and  who  was  a 
staunch  partisan  of  this  new  system  by  which  work 
in  the  open  fields  supplanted  the  drudgery  in  pent- 
up  prison  work-shops. 

As  was  to  be  expected,  there  was  a  considerable 
amount  of  opposition  in  the  committee  to  this  re- 
form. One  of  the  members  tried  hard  to  persuade 
the  Empress  of  the  danger  of  allowing  sentiment 
to  play  a  part  in  such  matters.  He  pointed  out  with 
much  earnestness  that  innumerable  obstacles  would 
be  raised  to  the  new  proposal  and  that  the  whole 
administrative  economy  would  be  upset  by  such  a 
reform.  Eugenie  did  not  deny  these  facts,  but  hav- 
ing exposed  her  ideas  on  the  subject,  she  wannly 

446 


RECOLLECTION  AND  RETROSPECTION 

maintained  that  humanity,  and  not  mere  sentiment, 
demanded  that  such  steps  as  she  suggested  be  taken. 
The  Empress  gave  examples  of  what  she  had  seen, 
and  pleaded  so  earnestly  on  behalf  of  the  young 
prisoners  that  it  was  finally  decided  by  the  commit- 
tee to  draft  the  children  gradually  into  the  various 
agricultural  penitentiaries  then  existing. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  obstacles  which  had 
been  foreseen  did  arise.  None  were  more  opposed 
to  the  proposal  than  the  managers  of  the  agricul- 
tural colonies  or  penitentiaries,  who  feared  the  evil 
effects  which  might  accrue  from  the  introduction  of 
undisciplined,  and  in  many  cases  vicious,  children, 
among  those  who  had  already  been  disciplined  and 
improved  by  regular  and  healthy  work.  But  these 
objections  were  over-ridden,  and  the  change  of  treat- 
ment brought  about  more  rapid  and  better  results 
than  had  been  expected.  In  the  fresh  country  air, 
under  the  healthy  influence  of  congenial  work  and 
contact  with  fairly  disciplined  children,  some  mar- 
velous changes  took  place. 

Whenever  I  speak  of  this  campaign  for  the 
amelioration  of  the  lot  of  imprisoned  youth,  I  al- 
ways enjoy  relating  the  following  example  of  the 
success  of  Eugenie's  plan.  It  was  that  of  a  boy  of 
sixteen  w^ho,  with  a  party  of  fifty  others,  was  trans- 
ferred to  Citeaux,  the  famous  abbey  near  Nuits, 
turned  into  an  industrial  and  agricultural  peniten- 
tiary for  juvenile  offenders.  He  had  been  specially 
noted  for  his  coarse  and  defiant  nature.  lie  prided 
himself  on  being  a  ''prison  bird"  and  declared  his 
intention  of  remaining  one;.  He  would  listen  to  no 
counsel  and  spurned  the  efforts  of  all  who  tried  to 
take  an  interest  in  him.     But  this  agricultural  sys- 

447 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

tern  worked  a  miracle  on  him.  Barely  a  year  had 
elapsed  before  he  was  allowed  to  leave,  although 
his  term  of  imprisonment  had  not  yet  expired.  The 
manager  of  the  establishment  recommended  him  as 
a  farm  laborer,  and  the  boy  kept  his  situation,  giv- 
ing great  satisfaction  and  becoming  in  the  end  an 
excellent  member  of  society. 

The  Empress  next  turned  her  attention  to  the 
terrible  women's  prison  of  Saint  Lazare,  where  vice, 
misery  and  crime  were  thrown  together  indiscrimi- 
nately, thus  forming  a  vast  and  festering  social 
wound. 

During  one  of  her  visits  to  this  lamentable  estab- 
lishment her  attention  was  attracted  to  a  woman 
who  was  lying  on  her  deathbed.  She  had  led  a 
wretched  and  shameful  life,  and  was  now  loudly  re- 
fusing the  comfort  of  religion,  while  she  indulged  in 
the  most  horrible  curses  and  blasphemy.  The  Em- 
press approached  her  bed,  spoke  gently  and  sooth- 
ingly to  her,  and  seemed  to  find  words  which  went 
straight  to  her  heart.  Suddenly  she  raised  her  eyes 
wonderingly  and  remarked: 

''You,  an  Empress,  can  speak  so  kindly  to  me! 
You  can  feel  for  my  sufferings!  Then,  truly  there 
must  be  a  God,  if  you  have  such  a  kind  heart." 

Few  things  that  happened  to  Eugenie  during  this 
regency  gave  her  more  real  joy  than  these  words 
coming  from  the  heart  of  a  fallen  woman.  Soothed 
and  softened,  the  poor  woman  asked  forgiveness  of 
the  sisters  and  nurses  towards  whom  she  had  been 
so  rebellious,  and,  assisted  by  the  Empress,  she 
passed  the  rosary  they  handed  her  round  her  neck, 
asked  for  the  chaplain  and  even  wished  to  be  con- 

448 


RECOLLECTION  AND  RETROSPECTION 

fessed  aloud.  She  then  died  quietly  with  words  of 
prayer  on  her  lips. 

That  day  spent  by  the  Empress  at  Saint  Lazare 
was  not  soon  forgotten,  and  the  touching  and  pa- 
thetic remarks  of  gratitude  which  she  received  both 
in  the  prison  and  outside  its  walls,  have  always  re- 
mained graven  in  my  memory.  I  believe  that  this 
work  of  Eugenie's  in  this  prison  for  the  fallen 
women  of  Paris  was  the  starting  point  for  the  for- 
mation of  a  philanthropic  society  especially  devoted 
to  their  interests,  a  society  which  has  become  very 
widely  known  during  the  Third  Republic. 

The  news  of  her  presence  in  the  building  during 
the  visit  just  described  spread  throughout  the  neigh- 
borhood and  a  large  crowd  gathered  about  the  gate- 
way, anxious  to  catch  sight  of  the  Empress  and  to 
praise  a  humane  but  very  natural  action.  So  when 
she  appeared  at  the  door,  she  found  groups  of  kneel- 
ing women  who  strove  to  touch  her  hands  and  gar- 
ments and  present  their  children  to  the  Empress. 
She  was  naturally  much  moved  and  was  obliged  lit- 
erally to  force  her  way  to  the  carriage  through  a 
mass  of  affectionate  people.  The  Empress  returned 
to  the  Tuileries  with  a  heart  which,  thougli  heavy, 
was  at  the  same  time  happy  at  a  duty  cheerfully  per- 
formed. Nothing  during  the  regency  was  so  worthy 
of  the  Emperor's  praise;  and  he  did  praise  the  Em- 
jjress  warmly,  on  his  return  from  Algeria,  in  the 
midst  of  her  philanthropic  work. 

Ten  years  later,  the  P]mpress  had  another  oppor- 
tunity of  coming  to  the  aid  of  the  poor  and  unfor- 
tunate under  most  tr>dng  circumstances.  At  the 
end  of  September,  1805,  while  the  court  was  staying 
at    Biarritz,    it   was    announced    that    cholera    had 

449 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

broken  out  in  Paris.  The  Emperor  and  the  Empress 
immediately  resolved  to  return  to  Saint  Cloud.  The 
first  outbreak  of  the  epidemic  had  been  overwhelm- 
ing, but  afterwards  the  virulence  of  the  disease 
seemed  to  diminish  somewhat.  Towards  the  middle 
of  October,  however,  a  return  of  the  terrible  malady 
caused  a  general  panic.  Everybody  who  could  left 
Paris  and  the  hospitals  were  full  of  the  sick.  The 
working  population  especially  suffered.  On  Oc- 
tober 21st  the  Emperor  went  to  Paris,  accompanied 
by  General  Reille,  his  aide-de-camp,  and  an  orderly 
officer.  He  visited  the  hospital  of  the  Hotel  Dieu, 
spoke  with  the  doctors,  walked  through  the  wards 
and  cheered  up  the  sufferers.  On  leaving  the  hos- 
pital, he  gave  a  sum  of  fifty  thousand  francs,  to 
succor  the  cholera  victims.  This  brave  visit  re- 
minded many  of  what  his  great  uncle  had  done  in  the 
similarly  affected  hospitals  of  Cairo  during  the  fa- 
mous expedition  to  Egypt.  Such  comparisons  al- 
ways pleased  Napoleon  III. 

The  Empress  did  not  accompany  the  Emperor  on 
this  occasion,  because  he  gave  orders  that  she  should 
not  be  informed  of  this  proposed  visit  to  the  Hotel 
Dieu,  as  she  was  suffering  from  a  bad  attack  of  in- 
fluenza. But  on  her  recovery,  the  Empress  ex- 
pressed an  ardent  desire  to  visit  in  her  turn  the 
cholera-stricken  people.  The  moral  effect  produced 
by  the  Emperor's  act  had  been  so  excellent  that  it 
was  finally  decided  that  the  Empress  should  also  go 
up  to  Paris.  Etiquette  would  not  let  her  go  alone. 
But  the  ever-thoughtful  Emperor  told  Mile.  Bouvet, 
her  lady  in  waiting,  that  he  allowed  her  to  accom- 
pany the  Empress  only  on  condition  that  she  should 
not  enter  the  hospital,  but  remain  in  the  carriage. 

450 


RECOLLECTION  AND  RETROSPECTION 

Mile.  Bouvet  was  obliged  to  make  this  promise,  al- 
though she  did  so  with  the  greatest  reluctance,  as 
Eugenie  well  knew;  and  this  bound  them  together 
more  closely  than  ever. 

Eugienie  left  Saint  Cloud  accompanied  by  her 
equerry.  Marquis  de  la  Grange,  Mile.  Bouvet  and 
Major  Dupre,  orderly  officer  to  the  Emperor. 

Her  first  visit  was  to  the  Beaujon  hospital,  to  the 
wards  occupied  by  the  cholera  patients.  She  tar- 
ried at  their  bedsides,  talked  with  them  one  by  one, 
and  tried  to  comfort  and  encourage  them  by  word 
and  manner.  Her  conduct  was  much  praised  then 
and  since,  but  the  Empress  never  felt  that  she  had 
done  anything  more  than  her  plain  duty. 

From  the  Beaujon  hospital  Eugenie  went  to  the 
Tuileries  for  lunch  and  afterwards  visited  the  Lari' 
boisiere  and  Saint  Antoine  hospitals. 

A  pathetic  scene  took  place  during  the  visit  to  the 
Beaujon  hospital  which  the  Emperor  used  to  love 
to  relate,  and  so  I  may  be  excused,  perhaps,  for  giv- 
ing it  here  in  his  own  words.  ''The  Empress,"  he 
wrote  to  a  friend,  "approaching  the  bedside  of  a 
dying  man,  bent  over  him,  took  his  hand  in  hers 
and  uttered  a  few  words  of  comfort.  The  man 
kissed  the  hand  which  held  his  own,  saying,  '  Thank 
you.  Sister.'  'You  are  mistaken,  my  friend,'  said 
the  nun  who  was  conducting  the  Empress  through 
the  wards,  'I  did  not  speak  to  you,  it  was  our  good 
Empress.'  'Nay,  do  not  correct  him.  Sister,'  an- 
swered the  Empress;  'he  could  not  give  me  a  nobler 
title  than  that  of  Sister.'  " 

At  the  Saint  Antoine  hospital,  the  doctor  who  pre- 
ceded Eugenie  opened,  by  mistake,  a  door  leading 
into  the  ward  where  the  small-pox  patients  were 

451 


MEMOIHS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

'  lying.  He  instantly  closed  it  again,  desirous  of  pre- 
venting lier  from  entering.  "But  she  entered,  how- 
ever," says  the  Emperor  in  the  letter  already 
quoted,  "though  she  forbade  her  lady  in  waiting  to 
cross  the  threshold.  But  the  Empress  does  not  take 
any  ver\^  great  credit  for  this  act.  She  went  to  the 
hospitals  to  aid  in  preventing  the  panic  which  had 
seized  upon  the  public,  and  was  simply  carrying  out 
a  pre-arranged  program.  It  is  quite  true,  as  the 
journals  report,  that  on  leaving  the  hospital,  the 
Empress  was  literally  carried  to  her  carriage  by  the 
crowd  who  enthusiastically  pressed  around  her. 
Blessings  and  praises  were  showered  upon  her  by 
the  women  who  had  clustered  about,  and  who  even 
cut  pieces  out  of  her  gown  to  preserve  as  relics." 

Even  the  most  careless  student  of  the  more  spirit- 
ual side  of  the  Court  of  the  Second  Empire — for  it 
had  such  a  side,  notwithstanding  what  its  detractors 
have  said — must  have  remarked  that  the  Emperor, 
and  the  Empress,  perhaps  to  a  less  degree,  had  a 
cult  for  certain  great  historical  characters  and 
events  of  the  past.  Napoleon  III  used  to  say:  "It 
is  not  enough  for  a  sovereign  to  read  and  study  his- 
tory, and  especially  the  history  of  his  own  land.  He 
must  worship  his  country's  heroes,  believe  in  them 
and  never  let  an  occasion  slip  to  impress  their  great- 
ness on  the  present  generation.  We  sit  on  a  throne, 
not  only  to  govern,  but  to  teach."  By  association 
with  her  noble-minded  consort,  this  same  spirit  grew 
in  the  Empress  and  with  the  years  she  became  more 
and  more  enraptured  of  the  famous  men  and 
women  of  France.  "I  am  glad  to  see  the  progress 
you  are  making  in  this  respect,"  the  Emperor  once 
said  to  the  Empress;  "you  will  end  by  becoming  a 

452 


RECOLLECTION  AND  RETROSPECTION 

greater  hero-worshiper  than  I — if  this  is  possible!" 
For  example,  the  Empress  always  had  a  great 
veneration  for  Marie  Antoinette.  She  was  early 
much  moved  by  the  misfortunes  of  the  ill-fated 
Queen  and  was  often  haunted  by  the  memory  of  her. 
Eugenie  loved  everything  which  reminded  her  of 
Marie  Antoinette,  whether  artistic  treasures,  cos- 
tumes, pictures,  or  books.  Immediately  after  her 
marriage,  when  she  was  spending  her  honeymoon 
at  Villeneuve  de  I'Etang,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Versailles,  she  asked  the  Emperor  to  take  her  to 
that  interesting,  sleepy  old  town,  and  especially  to 
the  Trianon.  Eugenie  then  visited  for  the  first  time 
the  small  palace  and  the  gardens  which  the  Queen 
so  greatly  loved,  and  henceforth  she  began  to  have 
collected  for  her  own  use  minute  details  concerning 
the  life  of  Marie  Antoinette  at  the  time  when  the  lat- 
ter was  the  center  of  a  kingdom's  love  and  adulation. 
The  visit  to  the  Trianon  was  not  merely  homage 
paid  to  the  memory  of  the  unfortunate  Queen,  but 
a  sort  of  pilgrimage,  a  kind  of  public  act  of  repara- 
tion on  the  part  of  a  bride  who  had  just  mounted  a 
throne.  Later  on  Eugenie  made  several  efforts  to 
revive  in  the  jjiiblic  mind  memory  of  the  Queen. 
Everything  concerning  her  was  collected  with  the 
greatest  care.  Memoirs  of  her  times  w^ere  read  with 
avidity,  the  slightest  incidents  were  noted,  the  small- 
est objects  were  looked  upon  as  sacred  relics  and  a 
sort  of  museum  of  Marie  Antoinette's  effects  was 
gradually  brought  together  at  the  Trianon.  r3it  by 
bit  many  articles  of  furniture  and  other  objects 
which  once  belonged  to  her  were  accumuhited ;  the 
walls  were  hung  with  pictures,  among  which  could 
be  seen  the  curious  painting  in  which  she  was  rep- 

453 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

resented  dancing  a  ballet  with  her  brothers  at 
Schoenbrunn,  during  the  festivities  which  were 
given  at  the  time  of  Joseph  II 's  marriage;  and  there 
was  a  square  table  decorated  with  bronze  chiseled 
as  delicately  as  any  jewelry,  which  had  been  made 
specially  for  the  Queen. 

Having  thus  contributed  to  the  reorganization  of 
the  Petit  Trianon  collections,  the  Empress  thought 
it  might  be  a  good  idea  to  add  to  the  International 
Exhibition  of  1867  the  attraction  of  a  display  of 
all  objects  which  had  once  belonged  to  the  Queen 
and  which  should  be  brought  together  from  private 
collections  and  museums.  In  fact,  under  her  patron- 
age a  committee  was  formed  with  the  object  of  re- 
storing  Malmaison  and  the  Petit  Trianon  exactly 
as  they  were  originally.  In  recent  years  this  was 
brought  about  in  a  most  admirable  manner  as  re- 
gards Malmaison,  through  the  generosity  of  the  late 
M.  Osiris  of  Paris. 

These  efforts  were  very  successful.  The  King  of 
Sweden  sent  to  Paris  the  portrait  of  Marie  Antoi- 
nette holding  her  tw^o  children  by  the  hand  and  walk- 
ing in  the  alleys  of  the  Trianon.  Gustavus  III 
wished  to  have  a  good  likeness  of  the  Queen,  and  this 
was  said  to  be  very  striking  as  a  portrait.  The 
Marquis  of  Hertford  lent  many  things  from  his  Lon- 
don collections:  works  of  art,  furniture,  and  mini- 
atures which  had  belonged  to  Marie  Antoinette  or 
which  were  in  some  way  connected  with  her.  Among 
the  objects  lent  by  the  Empress,  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable was  an  album  in  which  were  gummed  sam- 
ples of  the  materials  of  which  the  Queen's  gowns 
were  made.  Eugenie  learned  from  the  descendants 
of  those  who  had  been  of  the  court  circle  of  the  old 

454 


RECOLLECTION  AND  RETROSPECTION 

regime  that  this  album — of  which,  by  the  way,  there 
were  several  copies — ^was  each  morning  handed  to 
Marie  Antoinette  who,  by  pointing  out  one  of  the 
gummed  samples,  indicated  the  dress  which  she  in- 
tended to  wear  that  day,  and  thus  Mme.  Bertin's 
orders  were  greatly  simplified. 

The  Empress  owned  several  other  interesting  ob- 
jects which  had  belonged  to  the  King  and  Queen,  and 
among  them,  several  portraits.  There  were  a  snuff- 
box with  a  portrait  of  Marie  Antoinette  by  Sicardy ; 
a  cornelian  ring  engraved  with  a  head  of  Henry  IV, 
which  Louis  XVI,  on  the  morning  of  his  death,  gave 
to  Father  Edgeworth;  the  plain  penknife  which 
Louis  XVI  used  at  the  Temple,  and,  by  contrast,  a 
very  handsome  knife,  enriched  with  rubies  and  Cot- 
taux  enamels,  with  a  gold  blade,  a  marvel  in  jewelry, 
which  had  belonged  to  the  unlucky  King  also;  a 
bracelet-locket,  bearing  the  King's  profile  in  relief, 
which  the  Queen  had  often  worn ;  marble,  terracotta 
and  Sevres  busts ;  an  enormous  traveling  bag  of 
guipures,  embroidered  in  silk  and  gold;  books  on 
which  were  engraved  Marie  Antoinette's  arms;  sev- 
eral letters  signed  by  her,  and  many  other  things. 

As  a  rule,  the  Empress  kept  all  these  relics,  the 
authenticity  of  which  was  guaranteed  by  the  most 
competent  authorities,  in  her  private  apartments  at 
the  Tuileries.  But  during  the  Exhibition,  they  were 
displayed  at  the  Trianon. 

At  Saint  Cloud,  too,  were  many  evidences  of  Eu- 
genie's regard  for  Marie  Antoinette,  Tier  apart- 
ments there  were  decorated  witli  portraits  of  the 
Queen,  of  Madame  Royale,  and  of  the  Dauphin.  In 
her  cabinet  was  the  celel)rated  writing  desk  which 
had  belonged  to  Marie  Antoinette,  elegantly  deco- 

455 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

rated  with  two  bronze  gilt  statuettes  representing 
chimeras  whose  bodies,  twisted  in  graceful  fashion, 
followed  the  sinuosities  of  the  wood.  This  desk, 
which  was  made  specially  for  the  Queen,  has  al- 
ways been  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
examples  of  the  cabinet-maker's  art.  At  the  time 
of  their  marriage,  the  Emperor  presented  the  Em- 
press with  two  magnificent  earrings,  representing 
two  pears,  made  of  diamonds,  as  long  as  a  large  al- 
mond, and  surmounted  by  two  large  stones.  These, 
too,  once  belonged  to  the  Queen. 

Among  the  most  prized  of  these  Marie  Antoinette 
souvenirs  was  a  gift  from  Princess  Metternich,  wife 
of  the  Austrian  ambassador  in  Paris — a  strange 
portrait  which  she  had  brought  with  her  from  Aus- 
tria. The  Dauphine  is  represented  shortly  before 
her  marriage,  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  with  a  narrow 
red  riband,  which  looked  like  a  thin  streak  of  blood, 
encircling  her  neck.  One  was  painfully  impressed 
by  this  characteristic  of  it. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  Empire,  a  prayer-book 
which  had  belonged  to  Marie  Antoinette  when  in 
the  Temple  was  secured  for  the  Empress  at  a  fa- 
mous sale.  But  when  she  learned  later,  that  the 
Comte  de  Chambord  was  among  the  bidders  for  the 
book,  she  sent  it  to  him  through  a  friend,  and  he 
accepted  the  gift  in  the  most  courteous  terms.  It 
was  a  rule  with  Napoleon  III  always  to  treat  with 
the  greatest  deference  the  princes  of  the  old  regime 
and  Eugenie  ever  strove  to  second  the  Emperor's 
efforts  in  this  respect. 

Among  the  books  exhibited  at  the  Trianon  were 
two  volumes  which  had  belonged  to  Marie  Antoi- 
nette, entitled  Traite  de  I'Oraison  de  la  Meditation. 

456 


EECOLLECTION  AND  EETROSPECTION 

They  were  bound  in  blue  morocco,  and  bore  the 
arms  of  the  Dauphine  Marie-Josephe  de  Saxe.  On 
the  first  page  were  written  the  w^ords:  "These 
books  belonged  to  my  mother-in-law.  Marie  An- 
toinette." The  Empress  took  them  with  her  to  Eng- 
land, and  kept  them  carefully  until  the  year  after 
the  death  of  the  Prince  Imperial,  when,  before  set- 
ting out  on  the  journey  to  the  Cape,  in  order  to  visit 
the  spot  where  her  unfortunate  son  had  died,  and 
filled  with  dark  forebodings,  she  decided  to  give  the 
precious  books  to  some  one  who  w^ould  fully  appre- 
ciate them.  The  Empress  had  formerly  known  the 
Due  de  Doudeauville,  head  of  the  royalist  party,  and 
to  him  she  sent  the  volumes,  which  can  now  be  seen  in 
a  glass  case  in  the  center  of  the  grand  salon  of  this 
nobleman's  superb  Paris  mansion. 

As  has  already  been  seen,  the  Empress  always 
took  much  interest  in  works  of  charity,  and  the  or- 
ganization which  has  been  specially  dear  to  her  is 
the  Maternal  Society,  founded  by  Queen  Marie  An- 
toinette. This  excellent  institution  is  still  in  exist- 
ence under  the  presidency  of  the  Duchesse  de 
Mouchy,  one  of  Eugenie's  closest  friends. 

Now  a  few  words  about  another  bent  of  Eugenie's. 
I  refer  to  her  love  for  travel.  I  admit  that  she  was 
never  so  happy  as  when  visiting  foreign  lands,  see- 
ing cities  where  she  had  never  been  before  and  even 
sailing  over  the  seas,  ever  changing  and  ever  new. 
Walking  or  driving  through  unexplored  quarters 
of  a  favorite  city,  such  as  Paris,  for  instance,  had 
a  charm  for  the  Empress  of  wliich  she  never  wearied ; 
and  this  taste  seemed  to  grow  with  the  years. 

After  the  death  of  the  Emperor,  the  P^mpress 
spent  a  large  portion  of  almost  every  year  on  the 

457 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

Continent.  She  was  accustomed  to  make  more  or 
less  prolonged  visits  to  Paris,  always  choosing  the 
Hotel  Continental  as  her  temporary  abiding  place. ^ 

*M.  Franceschini  Pietri,  so  long  and  so  intimately  connected  with 
the  Imperial  family,  beginning  with  the  Emperor  in  the  Italian  cam- 
paign as  secretary,  and  continuing  with  the  Empress  as  secretary  and 
confidant  says  on  this  point:  "In  some  quarters  surprise  was  ex- 
pressed at  her  choice  of  this  hotel,  situated  as  it  is  right  opposite 
the  Tuileries,  which  must  have  awakened  so  many  unhappy  souvenirs 
of  the  faUen  Empire.  The  Empress  used  to  gaze  for  long  minutes 
at  a  time  on  the  ruins  of  the  Tuileries,  before  they  were  razed  to 
the  ground  just  before  the  World's  Fair  of  1878.  She  would  walk 
and  sit  for  hours  in  the  former  '  reserved  garden, '  which  now  borders 
the  Rue  des  Tuileries  and  is  open  to  the  public,  but  which  in  those 
days  was  the  private  garden  of  the  palace.  Then  would  tears  com© 
frequently  into  her  eyes  and  there  was  always  anguish  in  her  heart. 
It  would  seem  that  such  constant  dwelling  on  painful  memories 
would  produce  but  pain,  so  keen  that  it  would  be  hard  to  bear.  On 
several  occasions  the  Empress  explained  to  me  and  to  others  her  rea- 
son for  this  strange  indulgence.  'My  always  stopping  at  the  Con- 
tinental,' she  would  say,  'is  due  to  a  sort  of  attraction  born  of  the 
sufferings  I  had  experienced  in  that  part  of  the  great  city.  I  will 
admit  that  on  the  first  occasion  when  I  came  back  there  after  Napo- 
leon's  death,  and  especially  after  the  death  of  the  Prince  Imperial, 
the  effect  on  me  was  very  dolorous.  Then,  little  by  little,  the  sorrow 
became  more  poetical  in  its  nature  and  easier  to  endure,  until  it 
grew  to  be  a  real  source  of  consolation  to  me  to  Uve  over  again 
those  bright  and  cruel  days  in  almost  the  very  same  surroundings. 
I  have  always  liked  to  revisit  spots  where  I  have  spent  happy  years. 
The  cherished  memories  of  persons  and  events  would  then  ever  come 
back  more  clearly  and  vividly.'  Thus,  the  Empress,  more  than  once 
during  our  frequent  sojourns  in  Paris,  went  out  to  Compiegne,  to 
Fontainebleau  and  to  Saint  Cloud,  the  demolishing  of  whose  ruina 
caused  her  such  deep  anguish.  She  loved  to  stroll  again  through 
those  leafy  alleys  and  in  those  shady  groves,  where  she  used  to  pasa 
the  warm  summer  days  with  her  Court.  She  found  a  sad  comfort  in 
sitting  in  the  garden  at  Saint  Cloud  where  the  Prince  Imperial  as 
a  child  was  accustomed  to  play  with  his  boy  companions.  On  these 
occasions  she  wished  to  be  alone  and  her  solitude  was  religiously  re- 
spected. Sometimes  these  communions  with  the  past  would  last  for 
an  hour  or  more.  During  one  of  these  visits  to  that  sacred  spot  so 
closely   associated  with   the  memory   of   her   beloved   son,   she   was 

458 


RECOLLECTION  AND  RETROSPECTION 

The  reason  for  Eugenie's  long  stay  in  Paris  in 
the  year  1904,  was  the  protracted  illness  of  her  niece, 

threading  her  way  through  a  narrow  path  bordered  with  brambles, 
one  of  which  caught  her  dress  so  firmly  that  she  had  to  stop.  It 
seemed  to  the  Empress  that  this  bramble  was  filling  the  office  of 
some  unseen  hand,  and  this  little  incident  quite  upset  her,  so  that 
she  returned  to  us  who  were  waiting  at  a  distance — we  always  left 
her  alone  at  these  times — in  a  very  agitated  state,  and  sobbing,  told 
us  what  had  happened. 

"In  1904,  the  Empress  stayed  longer  than  usual  at  the  Hotel  Con- 
tinental. It  was  at  the  moment  when  the  Princess  Mathilde  died. 
During  the  closing  years  of  the  latter 's  life,  the  two  cousins  met 
frequently.  With  the  passing  years,  the  death  of  the  Prince  Napo- 
leon and  with  the  philosophy  which  comes  with  age,  all  of  the  little 
hostilities  and  petty  differences  of  opinion  which  once  marred  some- 
what their  intercourse,  gradually  disappeared  and  left  behind  an 
affectionate  friendship.  Now  long  conversations  would  take  place 
between  the  two  Princesses  and  they  finally  became  very  intimate. 
At  Princess  Mathilde 's  deathbed,  the  Empress  was  all  tenderness. 
Though  she  knew  of  the  character  of  the  will  which  the  Princess 
was  leaving  behind  and  which  disinherited  Prince  Victor  in  favor 
of  his  brother  Louis,  at  no  time,  and  especially  in  these  closing 
months,  did  the  Empress  touch  upon  this  subject  with  her  cousin, 
particularly  as  she  felt  this  unfortunate  feature  of  her  testament 
to  be  due  to  the  influence  which  her  brother.  Prince  Napoleon,  had 
over  her  who  had  quarreled  with  his  son.  The  general  public  was 
much  surprised  at  this  clause  of  the  will,  but  rightfully  interpreted 
it  to  mean  that,  as  the  Empress  had  chosen  Prince  Victor  as  heir  to 
a  great  part  of  her  property,  it  was  but  just  that  Princess  Mathilde 
should  regard  the  future  of  Prince  Louis.  But  no  real  understand- 
ing of  this  kind  had  ever  been  come  to  by  the  Empress  and  Princess. 
What  the  Empress  desired  to  do  for  Prince  Victor,  as  heir  to  the 
Empire  and  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  the  Prince  Imperial 
expressed  in  his  testament,  in  no  way  bound  Princess  Mathilde. 
As  during  the  last  two  years  of  her  life,  the  Princess  was  more 
friendly  to  Prince  Victor,  it  was  supposed  that  she  had  altered  her 
will.  But  such  was  not  the  case,  and  the  result  was  that  her  large 
fortune,  added  to  the  modest  sum  left  him  by  his  father,  made  General 
Louis  Napoleon  the  possessor  of  nearly  seven  million  of  francs, 
whereas  his  brother,  who  has  all  the  expenses  to  keep  up  entailed 
by  being  the  recognized  head  of  a  former  reigning  family,  enjoys 
but  the  modest  income  allowed  him  by  the  Empress — some  eighty 
thousand  francs  annually. ' ' 

459 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

the  Duchesse  d'Albe,  who  died  that  year.  This  was 
a  great  sorrow  for  her.  The  Duchess  was  as  intelli- 
gent as  she  was  beautiful,  was  very  well  educated 
and  had  acquired  an  erudition  that  was  rare  in  a 
woman.  The  Empress  used  to  tell  how  "this 
scholarly  niece,"  as  she  would  call  her  with  pride, 
had  supervised  the  drawing  up  of  a  catalogue  of 
all  the  marvels  of  art  contained  in  the  palace  of 
Liria  at  Madrid,  that  had  come  do\vn  from  the  Ber- 
wicks  and  the  Albes.  The  Duchess  was  much  ad- 
mired both  at  the  Spanish  capital  and  at  Paris, 
where  she  had  become  very  well  known  during  the 
time  her  father  was  Spanish  ambassador  to  France. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  Eugenie's  relations  with 
ex-Queen  Isabella.  The  Empress  never  passed 
through  Paris  w^ithout  seeing  her.  The  unfortunate 
Queen  never  forgot  the  kind  refuge  offered  her  by 
"the  then  powerful  French  sovereign,"  as  she  used 
to  say,  when  she  fell  from  power  in  Spain,  during 
the  sixties.  But  what  bound  Eugenie  particularly 
close  to  Isabella  was  the  fact  that  the  Queen's  son, 
who  became  later  x\lphonso  XII,  was,  when  Prince 
of  the  Asturias,  a  pla>Tnate  of  the  Prince  Imperial, 
both  at  Saint  Cloud  and  at  the  Tuileries,  as  is  men- 
tioned elsewhere  in  these  memoirs. 

The  Empress  always  enjoyed  the  society  of  dis- 
tinguished Spaniards  and  when  she  was  in  Paris, 
she  met  a  large  number  of  them,  the  Spanish  am- 
bassador being  particularly  amiable.  The  Grand 
Dukes  of  Russia,  who  also  stop  at  the  Hotel  Conti- 
nental, were  also  frequently  seen  in  her  small  circle. 

The  favorite  hour  for  receiving  her  Paris  friends 
was  between  nine  and  twelve  in  the  evening.  The 
conversation  on  those  occasions  was  very  general, 

460 


RECOLLECTION  AND  RETROSPECTION 

especially  touching  on  the  question  of  the  hour, 
whether  political,  artistic  or  a  purely  social  topic. 
The  latest  book  of  note  was  also  frequently  dis- 
cussed and  judged.  Burning  political  questions 
were  tabooed.  The  Empress  was  quite  ready  to  let 
everybody  have  their  own  opinions,  but  she  did  not 
care  to  give  up  her  own.  The  Empress  consequently 
abhorred  political  discussions.  In  fact,  she  would 
not  permit  them  in  her  presence.  For  instance,  at 
the  time  of  the  Dreyfus  affair,  it  was  agreed  by  her 
friends  to  mention  it  as  little  as  possible  before  her. 
Living  in  England  during  that  tragedy,  I  admit  that 
she  was  biassed  in  favor  of  the  unfortunate  captain 
and  felt  that  the  case  against  him  had  not  been 
proven,  in  which  respect  she  differed  from  nearly 
all  of  her  friends  of  her  own  political  party. 

A  devout  Catholic,  her  feelings  were  deeply 
wounded  by  all  the  legislation  concerning  the  sepa- 
ration of  the  Church  and  State  in  France.  In  this 
connection,  the  Empress  was  prone  to  dwell  on  the 
religious  liberty  enjoyed  in  England  as  compared 
with  France,  and  the  establishment,  during  the  clos- 
ing years  of  her  life,  of  the  good  understanding  be- 
tween England  and  France  was  very  pleasing  to 
her. 

The  Empress  never  took  a  wholly  pessimistic  view 
of  the  condition  of  France.  She  was  convinced  that 
the  great  industrial  vitality  of  the  country  and  its 
widely  diffused  wealth  would  save  it  where  other 
nations  might  go  down  to  ruin.  Politically,  she  did 
not  think  the  restoration  of  the  Empire  to  be  in  the 
immediate  future.  She  was  never  in  favor  of  aiding 
Prince  Victor  in  trying  to  conquer  his  rights.  With 
Hie  death  of  the  Prince  Imperial  and  the  loss  of  the 

461 


MF,MOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

popularity  which  once  surrounded  the  Empire,  Eu- 
genie did  not  believe  in  the  return  of  the  Empire. 
The  anti-military  spirit  which  pervades  the  coun- 
try and  the  religious  and  political  scepticism  which 
are  so  rife,  seem  to  her  to  bode  no  good  to  France. 
In  her  declining  years,  politics  were  interesting  to 
her  for  their  information  and  not  for  their  theories. 
After  her  long  and  cruel  experiences  politics  could 
not  be  expected  to  interest  Eugenie  otherwise. 

The  larger  portion  of  her  sojourn  on  the  Conti- 
nent was  not  spent  at  Paris  but  at  her  comfortable 
home  on  Cap  Martin,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Nice. 
There  the  Empress  received  many  persons  whom 
she  had  never  known  at  the  Tuileries,  in  her  charm- 
ing Villa  Cyrnos,  which  was  built  in  1891,  and  w^here 
she  resided  generally  from  January  to  June.  Her 
course  of  life  there  was  one  of  marked  seclusion,  hav- 
ing nothing  to  do  with  the  social  world  of  the  favor- 
ite winter  resorts  of  the  Mediterranean  coast.  But 
many  of  the  great  personages  who  come  to  this  part 
of  France  for  sunshine  and  health  amiably  pay  their 
respects  to  her.  One  of  the  most  notable  of  these 
visits  was  that  paid  by  the  Emperor  of  Austria,  in 
1905.  She  returned  it  the  following  year  while  the 
aged  monarch  was  at  Isclil.  The  Empress  wrote  as 
f ollow^s  in  a  letter  to  a  friend  concerning  this  visit : 
"It  lasted  two  days,  and  w^e  talked  over  all  the 
happy  and  unhappy  events  of  our  lives  during  the 
past  years.  When  I  said  good-by  to  the  Emperor, 
I  remarked:  'Now,  sire,  we  shall  not  meet  again 
until  we  are  in  the  other  world.'  We  were  both 
much  aifected." 

The  Empress  always  liked  the  sea,  as  I  have  al- 
ready said,  and  she  was  accustomed  to  make  voy- 

462 


RECOLLECTION  AND  RETROSPECTION 

ages  now  and  then  on  her  yacht.  On  one  of  these 
voyages  she  had  a  memorable  meeting  at  Corfu, 
with  the  Empress  of  Austria,  shortly  after  the  mys- 
terious death  of  the  Archduke  Rudolph,  and  curious- 
ly enough,  the  Austrian  Empress  gave  Eugenie  all 
the  details  of  this  terrible  tragedy.  Eugenie  was 
so  much  affected  by  the  narration  that  she  wrote  it 
down  immediately  afterwards,  during  her  voyage. 
The  story  as  told  by  the  Empress,  which  can  be 
given  with  propriety,  was  as  follows: 

"There  are  several  versions  concerning  his  death. 
According  to  some,  the  prince  was  killed  during  a 
copious  supper  by  a  jealous  rival;  according  to 
others,  his  death  was  due  to  a  hunting  accident, 
while  suicide  and  murder  have  both  been  advanced 
to  explain  the  sad  event.  We  knew  that  he  had  a 
very  intimate  liaison  with  a  young  lady.  Baroness 
Vetzera,  daughter  of  one  of  the  Baltazzi  family. 
The  Emperor  was  much  worried  by  the  complaints 
made  by  the  Archduchess  Stephanie,  which  he  knew 
to  be  justified,  and  he  did  what  he  could  to  put  an 
end  to  this  unfortunate  situation.  The  Archduke 
was  romantic  and  quick-tempered,  and  at  one  time 
we  feared  that  he  might  have  his  marriage  annulled 
so  as  to  be  able  to  marry  Baroness  Vetzera.  I  am 
sorry  to  say  that  some  persons,  fond  of  intrigues, 
sided  with  my  son  in  favor  of  such  a  union,  but  of 
course  the  Emperor,  myself  and  the  whole  court 
circle  did  what  we  could  to  prevent  it.  More  than 
once  I  pleaded  witli  my  son,  but  in  vain.  Just  when 
we  began  to  hope  that  the  Archduke  was  coming 
around  to  reason,  the  tragedy  happened.  On  Janu- 
ary 29,  1889,  there  was  a  grand  dinner  at  the  Hof- 
burg  in  honor  of  the  Archduchess  Valerie  and  her 

468 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

betrothed,  the  Archduke  Salvator.  Rudolph  had 
promised  to  be  present,  but  at  the  last  moment  tele- 
gTaphed  that  he  was  so  fatigued  by  the  hunt  that  he 
would  return  to  town  only  on  the  following  day. 
He  was  at  Meyerling  with  a  hunting  party,  which 
included  Baroness  Vetzera.  Did  her  cousin,  Bal- 
tazzi,  who  wished  to  marry  her,  suddenly  appear  on 
the  scene  and  provoke  a  quarrel  with  the  Archduke, 
which  ended  fatally  for  him?  This  is  the  opinion 
held  in  some  quarters.  The  guests  were  all  warmed 
with  wine.  This  is  certain.  In  a  thoughtless  mo- 
ment did  the  Archduke  kill  himself  and  his  sweet- 
heart?" 

It  seems  to  me  that  this  account  places  the  Prince 
in  a  much  better  light  than  those  sometimes  given, 
which  is  my  reason  for  transcribing  it  here. 

When  not  traveling,  the  Empress  divided  her 
time  between  her  Cap  Martin  home,  just  mentioned, 
and  her  English  residence  at  Farnborough,  in 
Hampshire,  whither  she  retired  shortly  after  the 
death  of  the  Prince  Imperial.  Farnborough  Hill  is 
situated  an  hour's  journey  by  rail  from  London,  in 
a  smiling,  wooded  country,  broken  by  hills  and  val- 
leys, rather  wild  to  the  view,  with  long  stretches 
of  moorland  and  pines.  Here  the  Empress  found  a 
pleasant  abiding  place,  congenial  to  her  heart  and 
mind.  Camden  Place  House  was  associated  with 
such  sad  memories  that  she  was  glad  to  quit  it  and 
to  transfer  her  dead  to  her  new  abode.  The  Em- 
peror and  the  Prince  Imperial  were  given  only  a 
temporary  resting-place  in  Chislelmrst  church.  Op- 
posite Farnborough,  on  another  hill,  at  the  end  of 
the  park,  the  Empress  erected  a  Gothic  chapel  in 
Portland  stone,  surmounting  a  cr}7)t.     The  French 

464 


RECOLLECTION  AND  RETROSPECTION 

architect,  Detailleur,  who  was  charged  with  the 
building  of  this  little  edifice,  completed  it  in  three 
years,  with  great  taste  and  with  much  respect  for 
pure  art.  Soberness  of  design  is  its  most  predomi- 
nant feature.  The  front  and  interior  are  both  free 
from  all  ornament.  The  walls  of  the  nave  are  snowy 
white,  and  the  pews  and  pulpits  are  in  carved  oak. 
Underneath,  lies  the  crypt,  which  extends  the  whole 
length  of  the  chapel.  There  rest  the  two  sarcophagi 
of  the  Emperor  and  the  Prince  Imperial  in  the  sim- 
ple grandeur  of  solid  granite.  On  the  one,  between 
the  two  dates,  are  cut  the  »vords:  ''Napoleon  III, 
Emperor  of  the  French''  on  the  other:  "Napo- 
leon, Prince  Imperial,  B  -n  at  the  Tuileries,  killed 
by  the  Enemy  in  Zulu^  nd. "  Many  different  in- 
scriptions had  been  suggested  and  even  written  out 
for  her,  but  the  Empress  preferred  these  few  lines. 
History  knows  the  rest.  The  sanctuary  is  filled  with 
w^reaths,  princely  tributes  or  offerings  of  humbler 
origin.  I  always,  when  I  visit  this  sacred  spot, 
read  with  the  same  old  interest  this  inscription  on 
the  wreatli  sent  by  the  late  King  of  Sweden  at  the 
time  of  the  Emperor's  death:  "Bomarsund.  In 
Memory  of  the  Aid  sent  in  1855,  when  a  Fleet  to 
defend  Sweden  was  dispatched  to  the  Baltic," 

This  homage  to  the  dead  is  not  the  only  memory 
that  is  kept  green  at  Farnborough.  There  are  sev- 
eral reminders  of  old  friends  or  faithful  servants, 
among  the  dead  or  still  among  the  living.  For  in- 
stance, in  the  park  is  the  cottage  in  which  Ullmann 
lived  until  bis  death  a  few  years  ago.  He  was,  as 
is  stated  in  an  earlier  portion  of  this  narrative,  the 
Prince  Imperial's  devoted  valet.  Often  during  Eu- 
genie's walks  in  the  jjark  would  she  stop  to  have 

465 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

a  short  conversation  with  this  excellent  man-serv- 
ant, who  loved  to  recall  the  memories  of  her  dear 
son's  youth  and  of  his  young  manhood,  and  who  now 
and  then  would  throw  some  fresh  ray  of  light  on 
that  dark  tragedy  of  Zululand. 

Farnborough  House  is  built,  like  so  many  other 
mansions  in  England,  with  a  Norman  roof,  large 
bow  windows  and  spacious  verandas.  The  large 
dining-room  and  the  glass-covered  gallery  leading 
to  it  were  constructed  by  Eugenie.  Besides  the  usual 
stables  of  a  country-house,  there  is  in  the  grounds 
a  carriage-house,  which  always  interests  visitors, 
as  it  contains  the  semi-gala  coaches  which  were  re- 
turned to  the  Empress  after  the  war.  The  grounds 
immediately  surrounding  the  dwelling  are  laid  out 
in  French  style  and  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  are  masses 
of  rhododendrons.  All  out-door  growing  things  are 
green  and  vigorous,  as  is  always  the  case  in  the 
damp  English  climate. 

The  ground  floor  of  the  house  is  full  of  memen- 
toes of  all  kinds,  largely  relics  of  the  Imperial  days 
returned  to  her  after  the  war.  The  study,  where 
the  Empress  spent  a  large  part  of  the  day,  for  she 
generally  went  out,  when  she  was  at  Farnborough, 
only  between  twelve  and  one,  is  replete  with  sou- 
venirs of  her  son.  There  are  many  portraits  of 
him  and  Carpeaux's  bust,  which  faces  Flandrin's 
portrait  of  the  Emperor.  Both  are  good  likenesses, 
I  think,  though  this  is  not  the  opinion  of  all.  The 
room  also  contains  many  articles  w^hich  belonged  to 
the  Prince  and  the  Emperor.  Some  of  these  are 
souvenirs  of  the  Duchesse  d'Albe,  who  was  ever 
so  dear  to  the  Empress. 

But  the  room  in  the  house  which  the  Empress 

466 


RECOLLECTION  AND  RETROSPECTION 

cherished  the  most  and  which  she  spent  many  hours 
in  arranging  is  the  Prince  Imperial 's  study,  in  which 
the  poor  boy  of  course  never  put  foot,  but  where  she 
sometimes  felt  he  was  very  near  to  her.  His  books, 
maps,  and  many  of  his  shooting  paraphernalia,  as 
well  as  the  weapons  which  were  with  him  in  real 
war,  are  here  brought  together  and  carefully  pre- 
served. In  front  of  the  window  is  a  bust  of  Napo- 
leon I,  by  Canova.  There  are  several  busts  and 
portraits  of  Napoleon  III,  of  dead  friends  or  rela- 
tives— Abbe  Deguerry,  Comte  Clary,  and  others — 
and  especially  three  pictures  by  Protais,  which  the 
Empress  particularly  cherished.  One  represents 
the  first  skirmish  in  which  the  Prince  Imperial  dis- 
tinguished himself,  while  the  two  others  are  repre- 
sentations of  his  last  moments  on  earth,  in  his  heroic 
struggle  with  death.  In  the  one,  he  is  in  a  standing 
position,  determined  to  sell  his  life  dearly;  in  the 
second,  he  is  lying  dead,  the  noble  boy,  pierced  by 
the  treacherous  shafts.  In  a  cloud,  at  the  top  of  this 
canvas,  lit  up  by  a  ray  of  light,  are  three  symbols: 
Notre  Dame,  the  Vendome  Column  and  the  Hotel 
des  Invalides.  They  stand  for  baptism,  the  field  of 
glory  and  the  last  resting-place  of  us  all.  The  Em- 
press passed  many  long  hours  in  this  shrine,  buried 
in  thoughts  which  I  cannot  put  down  here. 

The  other  rooms  of  Farnborough  also  contain 
many  interesting  things.  There  are,  for  instance, 
mementoes  of  the  Prince  in  the  square  drawing- 
room,  where  the  Empress  generally  passed  her  eve- 
nings, and  in  the  little  boudoirs,  whose  walls  are 
covered  with  pictures  recalling  the  life  of  her  be- 
loved son.  In  the  middle  of  the  gallery  already  men- 
tioned is  the  portrait   of  the   Prince   by  Cannon, 

467 


MEMOIES  OP  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

which  was  painted  at  Vienna  under  her  direct  su- 
pervision. It  is  a  magnificent  picture  and  inune- 
diately  attracts  the  attention  of  everybody  who 
passes  it.  Other  pictures  or  artistic  objects  are 
thickly  scattered  throughout  the  house.  Some  of 
them  were  saved  by  Prince  Metternich  during  the 
disaster  of  September  4th,  at  Paris.  Others  were 
returned  to  the  Empress  at  the  request  of  several 
important  persons,  among  whom  I  should  mention 
Comtesse  Edmond  de  Pourtales  w^ho  obtained  the 
consent  of  M.  Thiers  to  this  honorable  action.  Some 
of  these  objects  came  from  the  Biarritz  villa,  when 
the  Empress  sold  it.  These  are  chiefly  Gobelin  tap- 
estries which  were  in  the  dining-room  and  which  de- 
pict the  life  of  Don  Quixote.  These  now  hang  in 
the  gallery  and  dining-room  of  Farnborough.  In 
the  library  are  found  albums,  various  souvenirs  of 
travel,  gifts  from  sovereigns  and  presents  from 
well-known  individuals  or  public  bodies.  It  was 
always  a  pleasure  to  show  friends  and  visitors  all 
these  varied  objects  and  explain  their  origin  and 
give  their  history.  The  Emperor  used  to  say  to  the 
Empress  at  the  Tuileries,  when  she  was  pointing 
out  the  many  valuable  artistic  bibelots  and  treasures 
which  filled  that  once  beautiful  palace:  "Eugenie, 
what  a  fine  cicerone  you  would  have  made ! ' '  And 
more  than  once  at  Farnborough  the  memory  of  this 
remark  rushed  back  to  her. 

The  Empress'  long  residence  in  England  has  al- 
ways been  cheered  by  the  many  kind  attentions  of 
the  Eoyal  family.  The  late  Queen  Victoria  and  the 
Princesses  were  the  very  spirit  of  Christian  charity, 
in  their  love  for  her.  They  often  came  to  her  and 
she  returned  their  visits  with  deep  pleasure.    There 

468 


EECOLLECTION  AND  RETEOSPECTION 

was  something  indescribable  about  Her  Majesty. 
While  always  remaining  a  great  Queen,  with  all  the 
restraint  demanded  by  her  position,  there  was  about 
her  at  the  same  time  a  simplicity  and  an  expansive 
interest  in  your  personal  troubles  and  trials  that 
made  you  quite  forget,  for  the  moment,  the  lofty 
position  of  the  kindly  caller  and  friend.  When 
Queen  Victoria  made  a  visit  of  condolence,  you  im- 
mediately perceived  that  there  was  nothing  perfunc- 
tory about  it  and  that  she  really  felt  more  than  she 
could  express.  The  Empress  had  occasion  to  ex- 
perience this  agreeable  fact  on  several  occasions. 
Some  persons,  even  in  exalted  quarters,  have  de- 
clared that  the  Queen  was  cold  and  distant.  This 
may  have  been  so  under  ordinary  circumstances  and 
with  those  towards  whom  there  was  no  reason  why 
she  should  be  otherwise  than  cold  and  distant.  It 
is  highly  probable  that  the  Queen  did  not  care  to 
lavish  affection  and  show  warmth  where  these  senti- 
ments were  not  called  for.  But  into  Eugenie's  sor- 
rows she  penetrated  with  a  sincerity  that  gave  the 
greatest  comfort.  At  one  time,  the  Empress  used 
to  go  in  the  autumn  to  Abergeldie,  near  Balmoral, 
in  Scotland,  and  there  she  was  able  to  judge  the 
Queen  still  more  thoroughly,  for  there  was  less  for- 
mality observed  by  the  Court  in  that  wild  region. 
They  made  excursions  together,  and  the  conversa- 
tion then  turning  on  all  topics,  the  Empress  was  in 
a  position  to  measure  not  only  the  affections  but 
the  mental  strength  of  Her  Majesty.  She  never  re- 
turned from  one  of  those  memorable  outings  with- 
out finding  that  the  mind  and  character  of  the  Queen 
had  risen  higher  in  her  estimation.  I  am  sui'e  that 
I  do  not  go  too  far  when  I  say  tliat,  take  her  all  in 

4G9 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

all,  the  Empress  considered  her  as  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  women  of  any  age  and  any  land.  I  feel 
sure  that  history  is  going  to  place  her  very  high 
in  the  list  of  great  Queens,  and  if  the  splendid  Vic- 
torian Age  remains,  as  I  believe  it  will,  one  of  the 
grandest  pages  in  the  history  of  Great  Britain,  this 
will  be  largely  due  to  the  ability  and  virtues  of 
Queen  Victoria. 

In  closing  this  portion  of  the  memoirs,  let  me 
touch  briefly  on  an  incident  which,  while  not  very 
interesting,  is  characteristic  of  the  fate  which  at- 
tends the  fallen  rulers  of  France.  During  nearly 
thirty  years  a  suit  was  pending  between  the  Em- 
press and  the  State.  But  at  length,  in  the  spring 
of  1907,  the  Empress  won  her  case.  When  the  Em- 
pire fell,  the  State  seized  certain  things  belonging 
to  the  Imperial  family  found  at  the  Tuileries  and  in 
other  State  palaces,  which  the  Imperial  family  had 
inhabited.  Certain  of  these  objects  found  their  way 
to  the  collections  in  the  Louvre.  Five  hundred  and 
thirty-eight  articles  were,  after  the  ending  of  this 
suit,  returned  to  the  Empress.  But  in  this  long  list 
are  many  things  which  have  not  the  slightest  intrin- 
sic value. 

This  interminably  long  suit  was  begun  under  the 
government  of  M.  Thiers,  back  in  the  seventies. 
Both  parties  made  concessions  in  order  to  bring  it 
to  a  close.  M.  Thiers  held  that  the  State  should  keep 
all  objects  of  real  historical  importance,  though 
some  friends  got  M.  Thiers  to  return  to  the  Em- 
press, without  M^aiting  for  the  decision  of  the  case 
before  the  courts,  certain  personal  articles,  includ- 
ing some  carriages  which  the  State  could  not  util- 
ize; but  she  gave  in  exchange  several  valuable  pic- 

470 


EECOLLECTION  AND  RETROSPECTION 

tures  by  David,  Meissonier,  Cabanel  and  other  great 
artists,  though  these  canvases  had  been  bought  with 
the  Emperor's  private  money. 

In  February,  1879,  a  decision  of  the  courts  made 
the  first  important  step  towards  the  settling  up  of 
this  disagreeable  business.  The  list  of  things  which 
the  State  decided  to  hold  and  another  list  of  those 
which  the  State  was  ready  to  abandon  was  officially 
drawn  up.  The  result  was  that  the  State  recognized 
its  indebtedness  to  the  Empress  of  over  two  and  a 
quarter  million  of  francs,  with  interest  extending 
over  a  certain  term  of  years.  But  her  legal  ad- 
visers did  not  consider  this  account  correct  and  held 
that  the  State  owed  their  client  at  least  two  millions 
more.  And  there  the  matter  stood  for  twenty  years. 
In  January,  1899,  the  courts  again  took  up  the  sub- 
ject and  the  pecuniary  side  of  the  dispute  was  set- 
tled, the  Empress  abandoning  her  claim  for  the  two 
millions  above  stated,  while  the  State  was  ordered 
by  the  court  to  pay  over  to  her  the  two  millions  and 
a  quarter,  with  interest,  as  also  stated  above.  The 
registration  of  this  judgTQent  cost  her  nearly  eight- 
een thousand  francs,  but  the  decision  of  the  court 
remained  a  dead  letter,  for  the  debtor  happened  to 
be  the  State.  The  Empress  hoped  at  least,  to  get 
back  the  pictures,  portraits  and  certain  other  ob- 
jects, which  were  of  no  public  interest  and  which 
the  judgment  of  1879  had  made  hers.  The  State 
agreed  to  have  the  list  drawn  up  but  informed  the 
Empress  that  this  would  consume  much  time.  In 
order  to  hasten  matters  and  show  as  conciliator)^  a 
spirit  as  possible,  she  made  still  another  sacrifice 
to  the  State,  and  abandoned  the  interest  on  the  two 
million   and   a   quarter   given    her   by   the   courts. 

471 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 

Whereupon,  the  State  was  again  ordered  judicially, 
in  November,  1899,  to  settle  up  this  affair.  The  Em- 
press knew  that  the  inventories  had  been  burned  in 
the  Commune  and  other  troubles  of  1870  and  1871, 
and  had  not  been  reestablished  with  perfect  exacti- 
tude afterwards.  So  there  was  some  excuse  for  this 
slowness.  But  she  finally  grew  heartily  weary  of 
this  long  delay,  especially  as  she  had  sacrificed  some 
four  hundred  thousand  francs  in  this  matter,  in  one 
form  or  another,  mainly  for  the  purpose  of  bringing 
it  to  an  end. 

Some  of  the  objects  claimed  by  the  Empress  have 
a  certain  value,  while  others  are  cherished  simply 
for  their  associations.  Among  the  latter  are  many 
of  the  objects  which  belonged  to  the  "Sovereigns' 
Museum"  which  was  made  up  of  gifts  and  loans. 
When  this  museum  was  broken  up,  these  objects 
were  returned  to  their  owners,  among  whom  were 
the  Princess  Mathilde,  General  Petit  and  the  Mar- 
quis de  Turenne.  But  the  Empress  was  not  treated 
in  this  same  manner,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
the  catalogue  showed  that  these  articles  belonged 
to  her  by  inheritance  or  were  purchased  with  the 
Emperor's  private  money,  not  one  having  been 
bought  with  funds  belonging  to  the  State.  The  main 
trouble  was  over  a  few  objects  in  the  Louvre  Mu- 
seum, which  were  of  some  value  and,  in  a  few  in- 
stances, of  even  considerable  value.  Two  Gobelin 
tapestries  and  some  Sevres  porcelain  were  readily 
returned  by  the  museums  where  they  had  been  de- 
posited, the  directors  of  those  institutions  admit- 
ting that  they  had  no  right  to  them.  The  Prince 
Imperial's  cradle,  a  fine  piece  of  work  by  Froment 
Meurioe,  offered  by  the  City  of  Paris  on  the  oc- 

472 


RECOLLECTION  AND  RETROSPECTION 

casion  of  the  Prince's  birth,  as  the  reader  has  seen, 
was  returned  in  this  way.  But  later,  at  the  moment 
of  the  World's  Fair  of  1900,  Prince  Murat  request- 
ed the  Empress  to  lend  it  to  the  retrospective  exhibi- 
tion which  he  was  organizing  at  that  time.  This  she 
readily  did.  But  when  the  Fair  ended,  the  City  of 
Paris  claimed  the  cradle.  The  Empress  then  gave  it 
to  the  city  collections  at  the  Carnavalet  Museum,  ask- 
ing only  that  there  be  a  ticket  attached  to  it  on  which 
should  be  printed  the  words:  ''Given  by  the  Em- 
press," but  this  request  has  never  been  granted. 

A  friend  of  mine  and  a  leading  French  jurist  has 
made  this  comment  on  the  shabby  way  in  which  the 
State  has  acted  in  this  whole  matter:  'Must  com- 
pare for  an  instant  the  fashion  in  which  the  State 
treated  the  Orleans  Princes  under  like  circum- 
stances. In  1872,  Thiers  practically  gave  them  back 
everything.  In  fact,  their  personal  property  was 
never  seized,  and  the  landed  estates  which  King 
Louis  Philippe  settled  on  his  children,  before  he 
mounted  the  throne  in  1830,  was  quite  contrary  to 
dynastic  law,  as  tliey  should  have  become  Crown 
property.  Yet  the  possessors  were  not  disturbed. 
The  claims  of  the  Empress  were  perfectly  good  in 
law.  Nobody  denied  this.  But  the  various  minis- 
ters of  finance  seemed  afraid  of  public  opinion  aixl 
so  would  not  carry  out  what  the  courts  had 
ordered." 


THB   END   OP   VOL..   I 


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